


Sunday Mornings

by Pink Panda (Ejacyeolation)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Couch Cuddles, Couch Sex, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Foot Jobs, M/M, Slow Build, Smut, To Be Edited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-02-20 21:18:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2443475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ejacyeolation/pseuds/Pink%20Panda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living alone, Levi enjoys quite a few things in life; he likes seeing his house clean, getting new cleaning tools, warming his hands by wrapping it around his favorite coffee mug, and, on top of everything else, sleeping in. He's alone and he's not complaining, but when Eren Jaeger comes into the picture, things take quite a significant turn.</p><p>Alternatively, that fic where Eren and Levi are dorks taking a shot at being domestic partners.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is being edited and rewritten.

Among the many things Levi considers himself to be, the term "morning person" is definitely not on the list. This is primarily because of the nature of his job, which gives him the liberty to sleep in, even if it extends well into the afternoon. On nice days, when the rain outside proves to be unrelenting yet calming with its rhythmic pitter patter on his roof, its steady drizzle would serve as a quiet lullaby for Levi. Right now, it's urging him to snuggle deeper into the covers of his bed, finding comfort and feeling the heat of the other occupant.

It takes him about a second or two to realize that one; there is _never_ an " _other occupant"_ and two; he _never_ uses the word _snuggle_.

Confused and slightly alarmed, he tries to snap his eyes open, but the sudden throbbing in his head, most probably induced by his lengthy shut-eye session, forces him to close them again. A groan erupts from the back of his throat when he pushes himself up into a sitting position. He cradles his face in his hands, starting to remember the things that happened before he promptly passed out last night. If his memory serves him right, and if his house wasn't invaded by some other creepy stranger, he should see a mop of unruly chocolate brown hair and a face decorated with a pair of annoyingly green eyes.

Levi's suspicions are confirmed when he sees the brunet sleeping next to him, looking content and calm. He silently hopes, more for the kid than for him, that the teen doesn't drool on his pillows. To check for any signs of saliva leakage, Levi stares at the face of the boy Hanji had brought over, a week after he had reluctantly agreed to be the babysitter of her 19-year old nephew.

Perhaps there was a time in his life when he was called the reluctant hero, but time was, and now he has been demoted to being the reluctant babysitter.

On another note, Levi doesn't remember saying anything along the lines of sharing a room with the teen, but he does remember showing the boy where he'd be sleeping for the duration of his stay. Things were clear; Hanji had run off with her boyfriend to who-knows-where, her nephew would be staying with Levi for a while, and Levi showed said nephew the guestroom where he'd be sleeping. In conclusion, there should not be an _"other occupant"_ (and Levi should not want to snuggle with him).

"Eren," he calls, not entirely confident that he remembered the name right, and nudges Eren's shoulder. "Get up."

"Hmm?" is all he gets for a while before Eren's eyes flutter open, slowly blinking up at Levi.

"Don't _hmm_ me," Levi deadpans, feeling exhausted for some reason. He's starting to think that maybe he really didn't remember Eren's name correctly, thinking that "green-eyed devil child" sounded better. "What are you doing in my room, sleeping on my bed? Didn't I show you your temporary room last night? Did you somehow get lost?" When Eren starts to snore ever so quietly in response, Levi gives up on his questioning and admits defeat to fatigue. "Okay, don't answer that. Just get out. I want to sleep in."

"But s'freezing outside," the boy mumbles, drawing the covers tighter to his chest.

Nearly on his last straw, Levi sure as hell hoped that the brunet didn't mean outside the house, because he's going get the sarcasm (or the genuine and honest stupidity) smacked out of him.

"Again, I gave you a room yesterday, brat. There's a heater there—," the effort he exerts into explaining is all but disregarded when he gets interrupted mid-sentence.

"Doesn't work."

Levi shreds the last straw to pieces, wishing that Eren could just feel the intensity of the stare being directed at him. "You broke my fucking heater?"

"It wasn't working when I tried turning it on the first time," he says, speech still slurred with sleep.

Now that he thinks about, Levi does vaguely remember that he had to check on something that he kept postponing, saying that he'd get to it once he's done with his work-overload…

He rolls his eyes, wishing that he had just kept sleeping and hadn't gotten himself so worked up in the first place. Apparently, trying to talk to zombie-Eren was the perfect way to get started on the day. "Still, get your lazy ass up. If you want to sleep, do it on the couch or something."

It's Eren's turn to groan, and he moves so he's facing away from Levi and lying on his stomach. "Five more minutes. No, make that ten."

Levi almost feels a vein comically pop out his forehead. He takes a deep breath, telling himself that exploding on the kid on their first day wouldn't be the wisest decision (and he hasn't been making any wise decisions since he woke up). Fingers crossed, he silently hopes that normal-Eren wouldn't be as infuriating as zombie-Eren, hoping that the rest of the day goes smoother than this.

"You have ten seconds to get your ass out of my bed before I kick you out of this house. I don't care if your aunt threatens to kill me, I will plant my shoe so high up both of your asses, Eren, so help me god."

"Jesus christ," the boy answers. "I'm up, I'm up." He sits up and starts to rub sleep off his eyes. "I'm sorry for intruding; it was just really cold last night. Sorry, Levi, I didn't mean to start it all off like this."

Levi appreciates the fact that the kid was at least trying to be polite, and he's even delighted to learn that Eren could speak like a normal person once he's given a moment to actually wake up. "Yeah, well, we'll just have to see to it that we get that heater fixed as soon as possible so you won't be creeping up here again. Now, out."

* * *

If there's one thing that can brighten up his mood, it's his daily fix of coffee. Hoping that Eren shares the sentiment, Levi takes it upon himself to make coffee for the both of them, feeling particularly proud of the coffee beans he had just recently purchased from Titan. He's pouring the coffee into two mugs when Eren appears, sliding into the stool opposite Levi. He looks sheepish, drumming his fingers on the countertop while avoiding eye contact with Levi.

Levi sympathetically hands him a mug, giving the kid the liberty to add his desired amount of cream and sugar. He takes an experimental sip from his own steaming mug, careful not to burn his tongue, and then pulls out his phone to check for messages.

Eren stirs his coffee, murmuring a quiet thanks to Levi, and then continuous to dump more cream into the drink, completely oblivious to the grimace that sets on Levi's face. "It must be nice, how it rains here almost every day."

"Well, this _is_ the—."

"Rainiest place in the whole United States of goddamn America, I know. That's one of the reasons why I agreed to move in with Hanji," Eren explains, finally looking up at Levi. "Back from where I come from, it's always so… yellow."

Choosing to ignore the fact that it had been the second time that day that Eren had cut him off mid-sentence, he decides that there was no harm in trying to make small talk with someone he had to live with for a few weeks at most. "You sound like you really like the rain."

"I love it," Eren confirms, flashing a set of white teeth at Levi for the first time.

Levi pretends that he doesn't think that the kid has a nice smile, humming in acknowledgement. "Quite the opposite of your aunt. She hates this place."

"Yeah, I heard. Makes me wonder why she doesn't just move back to California if she hates the rain so much."

"Hanji's stubborn, if you haven't noticed yet." Levi knows this first hand, having to deal with her on an almost-daily basis. "And she likes her job enough to bear with the constant rain and cold, but not enough to make her shut her mouth about it. Plus, Moblit, the blondie you probably met before Hanji brought you over here at my place, is going to stay in this city until he dies, and that pretty much gives Hanji another excuse to lag back and do the same."

Eren places his elbow on the countertop, resting his cheek against his hand. The look he gives Levi causes the older male to raise his eyebrows in question.

"What, do you need to take a dump? The bathroom's right over there."

Eren continues to stare but a laugh bubbles out of him. "I'm curious as to why you think that Moblit and Hanji are going to be together that long."

"I never said that," Levi disagrees.

"But you did imply it, intentionally or not," Eren argues. There's a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips, tipping Levi off just a bit.

"Actually, that could just be you reading too much into the statement," the older man counters, crossing his arms on the cool surface of the countertop. "I think it's only common for _friends_ , for a lack of a better term, to want the other to somehow be happy, and I think Hanji's happy with him," Levi pauses for a bit, studying his nails. "Moblit's a good guy, he's good for her. He balances out the crazy in her."

Eren frowns and gives Levi another one of those weird looks. "You talk a lot when it's about Hanji."

To this, Levi snorts. "You need to stop overanalyzing everything I say, like you're the local psychiatrist and I'm your patient or something. You tell me, brat."

"I major in psychiatry, actually. Also, please stop calling me a brat." As if for added effect, Eren brings the coffee mug to his lips, all the while maintaining eye contact with Levi.

Levi almost laughs, thinking that Eren just had to be a psychiatry student. After all, what would he expect from a relative of Hanji Zoe?

"My house, my name calling," he says. "Also, Hanji and I dated. You might as well know, just so we can get over the awkward I'm-living-with-my-aunt's-ex stage before lunch."

Eren's eyebrow shoots up, mug raised halfway to his mouth. He places it down, looking around the house just so he could avoid directly looking at Levi for a while. With a sigh and a shrug, he murmurs, "I guess it could be awkward if you're still in love with her."

"I don't think I ever was," Levi answers, instantly regretting the unintentional spite. He didn't want Eren to get the wrong idea that Levi secretly hated Hanji (except he did, for some other reasons that were entirely unrelated to the breakup), so he makes sure to clear that up with the teen. "I don't hate her for that."

"Ooh, do I smell bitterness?" Eren teases, looking up at Levi again. There's a playful smirk pulling up his lips, making his looks border from a mischievous teenager to a troublesome almost-adult. The uncanny resemblance between him and Hanji in that moment was almost scary. It seems that, aside from the contrasting feelings they have towards the rain, Eren and Hanji weren't much different from each other.

Levi makes a show of pulling up a disgusted sneer on his face before rapidly setting it back to normal, which earns a quick laugh from Eren. His phone vibrates in his hand with a text message from Hanji, asking about how Eren was, and Levi replies with a simple, _'He's a little fucker.'_

"I'm sorry, I was kidding," Eren says. He takes a final swig from his coffee and then puts both his and Levi's mug in the sink to wash.

"You better be. Now, go get a shower or something, or do whatever you teenagers do these days, just don't let me hear it. I'll figure something out for lunch."

"Thanks a lot for this, Levi," as Eren says this, he rises to his feet, making Levi painfully aware of their height difference. "For letting me stay here, I mean. And for the coffee, as well."

"Don't mention it," the older male replies, not appreciating how he has to be the one looking up now. Feeling his phone vibrate inside his pocket, he pulls it out and sees a stream of messages from Hanji.

 _"Don't be like that!"_ one reads, butchered up with a lot of unnecessary exclamation marks.

"Oh, and Levi?"

_"Eren's such a cutie, you'll love him!"_

"I'm gay. You might as well know, just so we can get over the awkward I'm-living-with-my-ex's-gay-nephew stage before lunch." With a final wink, Eren disappears down the hall, probably into his temporary room.

Levi, against his better judgment, is impressed by the sheer amount of confidence that Eren had just suddenly displayed. He stares after the retreating teen, and then he stares down at his phone, at Hanji's last text.

_"The kid will rock your world, I swear. I can feel it."_

For reasons he couldn't explain (or wouldn't acknowledge), Levi doesn't really doubt it, but he would never admit that.

* * *

Eren, as it turns out, isn't as bad as Levi thought he would be. He cleans after himself to the best he can, which is unsurprisingly not enough to match Levi's standard. After calling him out on it for the fifth time, the kid bluntly asks him if he's a clean freak, or if he's been diagnosed with OCD or a mild case of mysophobia. Levi, of course, gives him the mighty finger.

Thankfully, though, Eren is proving to be somewhat of a milder case of Hanji; for one, he isn't as annoying as his aunt, and he doesn't talk about experimenting on human bodies. If Levi was being honest with himself, he'd admit that Eren is already making slow progress on getting on his good side, just by following the older man's orders on how to clean up.

"God, I could live here forever," Eren declares, plopping down on the couch after helping Levi clear the table and wash the dishes. "Thanks for the food, Levi. Hanji never told me that you're a great cook."

"Don't get too used to it, brat," Levi replies. He follows Eren and relaxes on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping through channels until they settle on HBO. "How long did you get to stay with Hanji before she took off?"

Eren seems to think about it, taking a few moments to come up with an answer. "When I moved in, she was already planning the trip with her boyfriend so… less than two weeks?"

' _Bless your poor, unfortunate soul,'_ Levi thinks, shaking his head. "Sure as hell hoped you thought over your decision at least a hundred times before hopping on a plane and moving in with that crazy woman."

The teen chuckles, running a hand through his hair and further making a mess out of it. "I really like Hanji, actually. She's my favorite aunt. Plus, how can anyone pass up going to Trost University, right?"

Levi thinks back to the times when he actually listened to Hanji ramble about stuff, and he does remember her talking about a favorite nephew or something… "How did your folks feel about you moving out? You got any siblings?"

"They were okay with it," is Eren's short reply. He does perk up, however when he starts talking about his sister. "I do have a sister. She's adopted, but we were both kids when we took her in so we practically grew up together."

"Mm-hmm," Levi hums, finding the way Eren talks so fondly about this sister of his a bit amusing. "What's her name?"

"Mikasa," Eren beams. "She acts like my mom most of the time but I'm probably going to start missing that real soon."

"Don't we all," Levi agrees in a quiet voice, putting a temporary end to their conversation. The silence isn't awkward, which comes as a surprise to Levi. He had assumed that Eren would be, on top of everything else, an awkward teenager. As it turns out, Eren just seems to be completely comfortable with idly watching TV with the older male.

Levi starts a new conversation when he opens up the topic of house rules. "First and foremost, you have to clean after your shit," he says, pretending that he doesn't notice how Eren hides a smile behind his hand. "Second, I don't generally give a fuck about your love or sex life, but you don't bring anyone here. _Anyone_. Also, we have separate rooms for a reason, brat. I'm not saying that we can't talk or be friends and shit, but don't just come up with big ideas like sleeping in my bed and _snuggling_ up to me when I'm asleep, it's creepy."

"Yes, sir," Eren replies, doing a mock salute. "Is there anything else?"

"This isn't really about the rules but I want you to know that I work the night shift, so, on most nights, you'll probably have to make dinner for yourself. You don't have to worry about the other meals; I can take care of them. Your aunt promised to pay me back for whatever crap you'll need so you don't have to worry about money, unless you've got other shit to buy, like porn or videogames and the lot."

While Levi talks, Eren nods every once in a while, taking it all in. "Okay, I understand. No mess, no sex in the house, and no worries because there's free food." He fiddles with his jacket before moving on to another topic. "Hanji told me you work in a pharmacy, was it?"

"In a hospital pharmacy, yes. My work hours start from eight in the evening to four in the morning, so I get home around five to six o'clock. Once I get off from work on Saturday morning, I won't be going back until Sunday evening. Did you take notes?"

"Does that mean that you're going to work later?" The brunet asks, ignoring Levi's last jab at him.

"Yes, Eren. Since it seems like you actually paid attention to me, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and trust that you won't be trashing my house the minute I step out of the doorway."

"Sounds like a task. Count on me not to break your trust." When Levi raises his eyebrows expectantly, Eren grins and adds, "And your furniture."

Levi almost smirks back at the brunet. "But don't worry yourself too much, kid. You'll be staying here for what, two weeks, at most? Your aunt's gonna be back before you know it." With this, Levi stands up from his place, leaving Eren to his own devices.

* * *

Things go smoothly at first, until Levi starts getting these ideas stuck in his head. To his defense, he thinks that Eren is purposely planting them there, doing things on purpose just to send out messages for Levi to misinterpret.

A fair example of this would be during the third day of his stay, when Levi gets home from his shift and catches Eren sleeping on the couch.

He maneuvers his way through the house without turning on any of the lights, heading straight to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. When he passes by the living room, intending to drop his keys on the stand next to the couch, he sees Eren sleeping there, snuggled into himself without any covers or sheets to protect his body from the cold except for a thin-looking blanket.

Levi could just walk past him, pretend that it's not freezing and pretend that he didn't think that the kid is probably going to catch a cold if he keeps sleeping there. Still, he finds himself fulfilling the role of the reluctant babysitter, gently tapping the sleeping brunet on his shoulder, quietly calling his name.

"What?" Eren grumbles. He starts to blink his eyes open, letting them adjust to the darkness before finally getting up into a sitting position."Oh, you're back. Welcome home, Levi," he greets, voice thick with sleep, nose already sounding congested.

Levi refuses to acknowledge the fact that he thinks the brat might have waited for him get home. "Don't sleep here, for fuck's sake. Why did I even bother giving you a room if you're just going to freeze your ass out here? I swear, Eren, I'm not going to take care of you or anything if you end up catching some sort of cold."

"M'sorry," the teenager slurs, standing up and wrapping the pathetic blanket around his shoulders. Eren zombie-walks himself up to his room and Levi follows him, making sure that he would actually get inside the room and not sleep in the hall. When they reach the door, Eren turns and bids Levi a _good mornight_ (which Levi would later learn is a hybrid between morning and night, apparently because he is going to sleep when it's already well into the morning). It's when he is all changed into his night clothes, tucked into bed, when Levi realizes that he's grinning.

In response, he almost slaps himself to sleep.

When he wakes up a good three hours before noon, he ends up giving the kid pills for his cold, with a hearty "I told you so" look.

"Don't pull that shit again," Levi repeats for the third time.

"Yes, sir," Eren replies, his hand immediately going up into one of his signature mock salutes. With the dishes done and with nothing else to do, they once again end up watching old movies on HBO while lounging on the couch. On any other day, Levi would hate how the time went by without him doing anything productive, but today, he gives himself the chance to be glad for the extended "day off".

Another reason why Levi thinks that Eren is scheming against him is the incident that happens during the ninth day of Eren's stay, when Levi gets home at around seven in the morning after an overtime shift at the hospital. Exhausted beyond doubt, the older male sleeps in, all the way to two in the afternoon. He wakes up with a groan, sitting up and feeling, as well as hearing, his bones crack after a few stretches.

As terrible as he already feels, he happens to look at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth and concludes that he looks like a walking corpse, so he quickly rinses his mouth and pointedly ignores his reflection.

After a rough day at work, he wants nothing than to get his hands wrapped around his precious mug of coffee, expecting to walk into a quiet living room and get on with his day in peace. As if the gods were on a quest to shatter all his dreams, he hears Eren from the laundry place, a colorful array of "Shit, fuck, I'm dead," sounding off from the room in a muffled version of the teen's voice.

He almost ignores it, longingly looking at his coffeemaker. The thought of having no clean clothes to wear easily overpowers the thirst for caffeine, though, so he finds himself hurrying to get to the laundry room.

Although he already has his suspicions on what he'd find in there, he is still taken aback by the amount of bubbles oozing out from his washing machine. Eren just stands there, looking horrified while holding the machine's plug in his guilty hand.

"What the fuck happened here?" Levi asks, looking from Eren to the machine.

"I don't know, shit," the boy replies. "Did I put too much detergent in there?"

"You tell me. Fuck, Eren. Do you think you broke it?" Levi walks closer on careful feet, inspecting the damage.

"No, I'm fairly sure I didn't. I mean, it doesn't look broken…?"

"Fuck. This is why I don't believe you when you say you didn't break the heater."

Levi orders the kid to get a dipper so they could scoop out all the bubbles from inside the machine and check if it would still work. Miraculously, it turns out that Eren was right and that he had just put in too much detergent. Levi ends up helping him with his laundry, not wanting anymore incidents to happen, and then they clean up the place.

"I haven't even had breakfast yet, you little shit," Levi grumbles, stalking out the room once he deems that Eren couldn't possibly do anything wrong now. He had watched the teen closely while he did his laundry, not trusting Eren enough to leave him alone after that mishap, and now he's feeling starved.

"It's almost three o'clock, too late for breakfast or even lunch," he hears Eren say from behind him.

"Fuck you and your time issues. If I want to have breakfast at three in the afternoon, I will have breakfast at three in the afternoon," Levi says. He stops sticking his head inside the fridge and turns to look at Eren. The teenager is in the middle of putting something inside Levi's microwave, much to the latter's horror.

"What are you doing?" he asks, cautious that Eren might break another appliance, although in reality, he hasn't actually broken anything yet.

"I made spaghetti while you were sleeping," the brunet answers, his shoulders rising and falling into a shrug when Levi just continues to stare at him. "I figured you would probably want to eat something when you wake up so I wanted to save you the trouble of cooking."

Levi tells himself that it's not a big gesture. Something like cooking for the person you live with is completely normal, maybe even implicitly mandatory, and isn't something that should make someone too happy, especially not someone like him. He justifies his feelings as a natural reaction to something that doesn't usually happen to him— he simply wasn't used to things like waking up and having someone heat food for you, or waking up to your washing machine turning into a bubble machine.

"I'm sorry for making a mess there," Eren continues. He rubs a hand on the back of his head and sends a sheepish smile at Levi's way. "I was trying to impress you but it totally backfired."

It's during moments like this, when Eren decides that he wants to do something nice for Levi and that he wants to say things that Levi would just end up misinterpreting, when Levi truly confirms that Eren is plotting something evil against him.

Numerous people have pointed out that he's not exactly on the "sociable" sphere of the human race, and he has been called "socially awkward" more than once in his life, but even he could sense that something was up with Eren and that it definitely involves Levi in some way.

He doesn't know what to say and how to react so instead of answering, Levi lets the beeping sounds from the microwave fill the silence. He watches as Eren pulls out the container and grabs a plate and a fork. Soon, the table is set with a serving of decent-looking spaghetti and a glass of orange juice.

Eren might have fucked up a bit on a few occasions, and he still hasn't realized that he forgot to give Levi the much awaited steaming mug of coffee. Still, starting on that day, Levi begins to think that living with Eren really isn't bad at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talk to me on tumblr pls ily: levirens.tumblr.com


	2. Chapter 2

Levi, believes that, contrary to popular belief, he’s quite easy to please. He likes seeing his house clean, getting new cleaning tools, and keeping his hands warm by wrapping them around his favorite coffee mug. On top of all the things he likes, he concludes that he likes sleeping in the most. He likes feeling his bed sheets wrapped around him as he wakes up to the sound of the rain's incessant singing outside. He likes the fact that he can wake up and open his eyes to look at the time without feeling like he should be getting ready for work.

He doesn’t like the sound of his phone blaring off on his bedside table, obnoxiously telling him that someone is trying to call him. He also doesn’t like having to roll on his stomach and reach around to pluck his phone off the table, tap ANSWER, and then press the small device to his ear.

"What?" he grumbles. "Fuck you, Hanji, of course I was sleeping."

 _"Sorry, grumpy cat. I just wanted to check on Eren,”_ Hanji tells him, leaving Levi utterly dumbfounded that he makes a face, opening and closing his mouth, unable to form words.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he asks, “Maybe you could have done the logical thing to do and called him instead of me?”

 _"Yes, but I wanted to know if he’s being good and behaving well,”_ _she insists. “Is he being a pain in the ass for you?"_

"Everyone is a pain in the ass for me, Hanji,” Levi murmurs, staring up at the ceiling. He wants to say more but he knows Hanji, and Hanji would misunderstand the situation.

The woman laughs, her booming voice somehow messed up by the call.  _"I know, but with varying levels. For example, there's me and Erwin on the you're-a-pain-in-the-ass-but-I-love-you level."_

Levi rolls his eyes despite the fact that Hanji couldn’t see him do it. He thinks about it for a while, weighing his options. In the end, he tells Hanji what he thinks is the truth, "He's on the I-tolerate-you level, then."

 _"Aww, Levi! That's amazing to hear!,”_ _Hanji exclaims in an excited squeal. “You sound like you're getting along with him.”_ At that point, Levi could almost picture her face breaking into a shit-eating grin.

Deciding that it’s too late to try and go back to sleep, he gets up and stretchs a bit, running a hand through his hair. "He almost broke my washing machine just the other day and I still suspect that he actually broke the heater in the guestroom, and that was one his first day here. Still, he's a pretty decent kid. He's shit at cleaning, though, just like his aunt."

Hanji laughs into the phone again, about to say something when someone knocks on Levi's door.

"Come in," he calls out, knowing that it would be best to let Eren talk to his aunt.

"Lunch is ready," the teen tells him, popping his head through the door. "Oh, sorry, did I disturb you?"

"Your aunt already got that handled," Levi answers, ignoring the squealing coming from Hanji's line. "Here."

He waits until Eren enters and reaches his hand out for the phone before handing it over and leaving the room, letting them have their privacy (even if it was  _his_  room and they were both invading  _his_  privacy), heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he comes back, Eren is sitting on his bed, gazing out the window like some sort of lovesick protagonist in a cheesy and lame music video.

"Do you think there's a storm coming? It's already a downpour," he notes, Levi's phone still clutched inside his hand.

It does seem like a storm would hit them soon, and with the way the rain’s pouring down so hard, Levi doesn’t find it hard to believe that there already is a storm. He thinks that if it keeps up, he wouldn’t be able to make it to work later. "Seems like it. Come on, you made lunch, right?"

Eren surrenders the phone over and mumbles a "Yeah, okay," before leaving ahead of Levi. When he disappears down the hall, Levi lets out a sigh.

Levi finds that he’s almost never sure of himself when it comes to Eren, never knowing what to think when he’s around the teenager. It’s almost unacceptable, because he’s a fully grown man and he should not be trying to figure if some kid is giving him mixed signals.

There’s one thing he does know for sure, though; it’s becoming harder to convince himself that he doesn’t think that Eren has a crush on him, but he would endure.

They eat lunch on the countertop separating the kitchen from the rest of the house, the rain outside steadily gaining more strength. They both turn as they see a lightning strike from the sky, immediately followed by the rumbling of thunder. Levi could tell that there is indeed a storm brewing out there and he just hopes that there won’t be a tornado.

"Will you be going to work?" Eren suddenly asks, playing with the vegetables on his plate. Levi wonders why the kid even bothers to put vegetables in there if he just ends up not eating them anyway.

Levi shakes his head, watching the sky light up with another whip of lighting. "I'm going to call in and tell them that they're crazy if they think I would voluntarily leave the house with that storm just waiting to eat me up the moment I step outside.”

Eren nods, smiling. "Yep, you do that." As if in a good mood, he pops a broccoli into his mouth and immediately grimaces. "God, that's awful."

"You cooked this," Levi deadpans, eating the last of his vegetables.

"I'm not responsible for the taste of these vegetables. They were born that way."

Levi barely stops himself from rolling his eyes. "You're a special kind of masochist, aren't you? Why would you make this if you don't even like eating vegetables? Why torture yourself like that? Is that some sort of kink now?”

"Well, I was thinking that if I'm going to make you lunch then I might as well make it healthy, right?” Eren says this as if he’s expecting Levi to agree with him right away. When the older male doesn’t, Eren elaborates, “You know, to make up for your odd sleeping schedule. So you won't collapse or something. Right?"

There he goes again, saying shit that makes Levi think about stuff that he shouldn’t even be considering. Pretending that he doesn’t notice how Eren's mood had significantly brightened when Levi said that he won’t be going to work is hard, but he can do it. Pretending that he isn’t the slightest bit touched by what Eren said, that’s harder.

Levi realizes that he’s been staring at Eren for quite some time now, and the teen is starting to squirm under his gaze, and Levi’s starting to think that the sight of Eren all flushed and embarrassed is the slightest bit endearing.

"I appreciate the effort, Eren,” he tells the teen as they clean up the table. Levi tries his best to pretend that he doesn’t notice the faint dusting of pink across Eren’s cheek. "What do you even do around here? Please don’t bore me to death."

Eren smiles and proudly proclaims, “Netflix and sleep.”

"Right,” Levi says, dragging out the “i”. “I'm bubbling with excitement; I can hardly wait to do this “Netflix and sleep” of yours.”

Eren carries the plates to the sink, bumping his hips against Levi’s when he passes by. “It’s not going to be boring, I promise.”

Levi doesn’t want to hold on to that promise because, really, what could be exciting about watching some movies and then falling asleep later on? Unless there’s some other hidden meaning behind Eren’s “Netflix and sleep”, then Levi doesn’t really have high hopes.

Still, he can’t help but hide a smile behind his drink.

* * *

 

As Levi had expected, there is no hidden meaning. As soon as they finish cleaning up, Eren practically drags him over to the living room, making him sit on the couch as the teen turned the TV on. He flips through movies, asking Levi’s opinion about every single one, and it only until an hour later that they manage to find enough horror movies to last them a year.

"This is what you do every day? Don't you have a social life?" Levi asks. He knows that he’s not one to judge because it’s not like he himself has one one outside of work and Hanji and Erwin, but Eren _is_ young. As far as Levi knows, people around that age go out every single day.

(Not like he could go out with the kind of weather they had, and not like he had any friends around the area yet, but still.)

"Of course I do; I text with Mikasa and Armin every day. Armin's my best friend, by the way," he explains. “And I’ve kept in touch with the people from back home so far.”

Levi doesn’t think that it’s much, but if it’s enough for Eren then he’s happy for the kid. “I see. That’s good, then.” When the brunet only smiles in response, Levi asks, “Well, ready to watch?" Without waiting for an answer from Eren, Levi moves to press PLAY but the teen stops him with a hand holding back Levi’s.

"I kinda want some pizza," he announces with a sheepish smile pulling at his lips.

"What?"

"Pizza. Isn't that one of the must-haves when going on a movie marathon, especially with the type of weather we’re having?"

"Eren, if someone will deliver pizza and take on the great adventure of trying to reach this apartment building through that shitstorm, then I might as well go to work."

The teen nods but he looks utterly crestfallen to Levi, like the idea of watching crappy horror movies on the flat screen without a box of pizza in front of him was devastating.

Fucking brat. "You want us to make pizza." Levi doesn’t even need to pose it as a question; he’s already sure that Eren would give him an affirmative.

Sure enough, green eyes looked up at him and Eren shrugged. "It's something to do other than just watching movies all day, right? I know you hate being unproductive."

Levi’s eyebrow twitches, wanting to wipe of the pseudo innocent smile Eren was beaming at him with a dishrag. He rubs his face with his palm, silently relenting to the teen’s schemes. "Do you even know how to make the thing?"

Eren shakes his head, still looking sheepish, which makes signals fire off in Levi’s head. "I was under the impression that _you_ do because of your crazy kitchen skills." Levi finds himself half-expecting Eren to finish it off with a wink which thankfully doesn’t happen.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, kid," Levi told him. He gets up and starts  to walk towards the kitchen, stopping when he sees that Eren isn’t making a move to follow him. "Well, are we gonna make the damn pizza or what?"

Eren scrambles to get up on his feet, standing in attention with a hand raised in a weird salute. "Yes, sir!"

"Fucking spoiled brat," Levi grumbles to himself, trying to remember if he still has enough ingredients for bread pizza. He searches around his pantry, knowing he still has some loaf bread lying around and hoping that it hasn’t gone stale yet. When he finally finds it and pulls it out, Eren gives him a curious look.

"Are we using loaf bread to make pizza?"

Unbelievable. "Eren, don't tell me you don't know and have never tried loaf bread pizza."

"I don't know and have never tried loaf bread pizza. I mean, there's Luigi's right on the very street where I used to live before moving here so I never had to, like, make my own pizza."

" _Fucking spoiled brat_. Did you honestly expect me to make you actual pizza, dough and all?"

Eren forces out a laugh, scratching the back of his head. “At this point of the conversation, I’d like to say that I wasn’t.”

"You little shit. Get your ass over here so I can show you some survival tips for when you go to college. Actually, scratch that, this is survival tip for life." After spending a few minutes looking for the ingredients then laying it all out on the kitchen counter, Levi deems they’re ready. He prepares the oven and turns to Eren.

"Basically, slice shit up then just spread some tomato sauce on the bread, toss in lots of cheese, and then add the bacon. When you’re done with that, just shove them all inside the oven and hope for the best. Simple, easy, convenient." As Levi says this, he makes a show of following his own instructions. Once he gets one slice of bread ready for the oven, he motions for Eren to do the same until they have 10 slices of pizza bread ready for baking. They do it in batches, placing five in a tray and sliding it into the oven.

Levi inwardly sighs and glances at Eren, noting that the teen looks happy and excited. He keeps staring at the oven until he probably feels Levi’s eyes on him, turning his head to look meet the older man’s gaze. "Thank you, Levi."

"For teaching you how to make bread pizza? Don't mention it, brat." He breaks eye contact and pretends to find something interesting with his nails, but not soon enough to miss the way Eren smiles at him, an actual smile that isn’t lace with embarrassment or mischief.

"And for tolerating me.”

Levi looks up again, blinking at Eren. It doesn’t take him long before he’s able to put two and two together. Despite Eren’s subtle confession about eavesdropping, Levi can’t really bring himself to get mad at the teen. He shakes his head and crosses his arms across his chest, deciding that a small confession of his own wouldn’t hurt. "It's not hard to tolerate you, Eren. You're a good kid." He chooses to maintain eye contact as he says this, letting Eren know that he isn’t just saying it to make the kid feel okay about their current living arrangements, that he’s serious.

It isn’t hard to pretend that he doesn’t notice that there’s a faint dusting of pink on Eren's cheek, or how the kid’s smile had doubled in size as he mumbles another quiet "Thank you" to Levi. Truth be told, he admits that it’s harder to pretend that he isn’t thinking about how comfortable he is with Eren now, how he doesn’t really hate or even dislike that he’s making lousy pizza with the teen.

Levi pulls out the tray and Eren puts the remaining five slices inside the oven to bake. He asks what the brunet wants for drinks and they both agree on Mountain Dew (not that they have much to pick from in Levi’s refrigerator). Holding together four cans in his hands, Levi goes back to the living room and waits for Eren there.

"All ready," Eren announces, holding two plates laded with pizza and sitting down next to Levi on the couch. Levi thinks that the position might be becoming all too familiar to the both of them, because that’s certainly the case for him.

"Finally. So much for eating healthy," he replies, grabbing the remote and clicking the PLAY button so they could get started on their first movie—something about a girl being an innkeeper and the _surprisingly_ haunted hotel. Levi soon realizes that Eren, on the other hand, is unsurprisingly very vocal, voicing his thoughts throughout the movie with a series of  _"Is she stupid?",_   _"Oh my god, you have to be kidding me",_   _"There's some bad acting for you"_ ,  _"We made the wrong choice, Levi"_  on regular intervals. Occasionally, when the scene gets too scary for him, Eren would suddenly reach out and grip a random part of Levi's body, or he would let out a small yelp and cover one of his eyes, peeking with other until the jump scare happens and leaves him gripping the front of his own shirt in relief.

Levi finds himself in the middle of thinking that the teen's antics were more amusing than the film itself so scolds himself for it, promptly snapping back his eyes and his focus on the screen. When the movie ends, Eren lets out a huff and clears his throat.

"Well, that was bad," he announces.

"With the way you kept screaming? I could tell." Levi takes a bite from his pizza and excuses himself to look for chips. When he comes back, the next film is already starting. Earlier, while picking out the movies, Eren had somehow managed to convince Levi that they needed to watch  _The Ring_ , saying that it had been more than a couple of years since he last saw it.

Levi rips open the bag of chips and offers some to the brunet. This time, save for the occasional yelps and  _"oh god, oh god"_ , Eren stays quiet. It seems that trick is that the teen would keep his mouth shut and genuinely pay attention if he really likes what they’re watching.

Levi catches himself paying more attention to the brunet than to what they’re watching, much to his disappointment. He finds himself payying attention to the way Eren's shoulder is pressed up against his, and the same goes with their knees. Every now and then, Eren's long legs would brush against Levi's, or his head would disappear behind the older male's back. Sometimes, he would suddenly grip at Levi's sides, or his thighs, and then retract when the scene ends. At one point, the teen pulls his legs up, hugging them to him so he’s hunched into a ball, pressing into Levi's side.

Levi wants to think that he doesn’t know why he doesn’t feel too uncomfortable with Eren so close, with Eren acting so familiar around. He refuses to admit that there’s a chance that he might be acting the same around Eren, and that’s not something he’s ready to think of at the moment, especially when there’s a creepy girl pushing out from a ratty television.

He has his arm draped on the back of the couch, absentmindedly thinking about how Eren would react if Levi decides to give him the scare of a lifetime. When he goes through with the idea, he almost doubts that it would actually work until it does. He simply grabs the teen’s shoulder from behind and it gets the brat to yell and slightly jump off his seat in time with the character's screaming on screen. He whips his head to look at Levi and frowns, breathing heavily.

"Very mature," he says. After a while, the frown on his face disappears and is replaced with a disbelieving smile. Eren shakes his head Levi and tells him, "I would appreciate it if you actually paid attention and  _watched_  the movie with me."

Levi only shrugs, impressing himself with his ability to keep his cool even though he’s most probably been caught watching Eren. He leans back and turns his gaze to the TV, trying to concentrate on the film. He’s starting to pay attention to it when he feel his phone vibrate in his pocket, then the ringing sounds out and manages to surprise Eren, who grips at Levi’s shirt. Levi fishes out the phone and pats Eren on the head before he stands up and leaves Eren. He almost feels bad for leaving the kid watching the movie alone.

"Hello," he breathes out, running a hand through his hair and gently tugging at the strands.

 _"Levi, just calling to tell you that you don't have to go to work later,"_  the voice of Erwin Smith informs him. Levi doesn’t stop himself when he gets the urge to click his tongue at his friend.

"That doesn't take a genius to figure out," he drawls out. He checks the watch on his wrist, glances back at Eren, then decides that it’s about time to make some dinner. He rummages through his fridge while Erwin blabbers on.

_"Well, I'm also calling to check up on you. Hopefully, you haven't killed Hanji's nephew yet. You know, hiding dead bodies are pretty hard these days."_

"Very funny, eyebrows." He contemplates for a while before grabbing ingredients for a simple chicken chowder, laying them out on the counter where he and Eren made pizza earlier. His thoughts stray over to when he patted the boy's head, thinking that it was undeniably affectionate of him. "I'm hanging up, later."

Halfway through the process of cooking, Eren saunters over to him and eyes the stove before saying, "I was wondering why you were taking so long."

"We can't watch movies all day without eating," is Levi's simple answer. "Someone called to tell me that I can have the day off, surprise surprise. Now help me make dinner."

There isn’t much left for Eren to help with, so the teen opts set up the table while Levi finished cooking. They eat chicken chowder soup while Eren tells Levi that he knows the next movie would be awesome because, apparently, his friends couldn’t stop talking about it when it first came out.

Levi doesn’t tell Eren that he’s been clinging to the older male for dear life while they had watched lame movies, so he seriously doubts that Eren would be able to make it through the next one alive. He does occasionally tease Eren about the very manly cries, though, which makes the brunet flush a bright red.

Due to incessant demand from the teen, they both decide to get pillows and sheets from their rooms for an “A+ movie experience” (according to Eren) and, although Levi views it as a bad idea and has an inkling as to what might happen (they’ll get too comfortable and end up sleeping there) he admits to himself that he likes the cozy setup.

It’s around the ninth movie, when Levi starts to feel his eyes drooping and he’s leaning against the back of the couch, towards the armrests, that he feels the weight on his side slip down and land on his covered lap. He tells himself that he can’t blame Eren for falling asleep and subconsciously snuggling into the covers on Levi's lap, making himself even more comfortable there. Levi shuts the TV down and tosses the remote away, hugging his pillow to himself and letting his eyes close.

In the morning, when he asks himself why he didn't just move back to his room, he would blame the teen's weight on him. It would probably be with a deep sigh that he’d admit the truth; he just found the whole thing comfortable, that it had been a nice change.

Before fully letting sleep take over, Levi thinks about how it’s getting harder to pretend that he isn’t starting to get used to Eren's company.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfc im horrible at fluff someone send help and maybe friendship: levirens.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED.

Birds chirping, breaking the silence of an early morning, had Levi waking up. He groaned, cracking his neck from side to side a few times to get rid of the stiffness. He rubbed a hand on his eyes to remove the sleep and tried to hold back a yawn, finding that he couldn't move his lower body properly.

Something's wrong, he thought. He shouldn't be hearing birds chirping outside, not in this place, and he shouldn't be sleeping on the couch. Most of all, he realized, Eren shouldn't be sleeping on him, on his lap, specifically.

"Fuck, brat," he grumbled. "Get off, I need to pee."

Eren did get off. Matter of fact, he  _rolled_  off and fell on the floor.

" _Fuuuck_ ," he drawled out. "God, I hit my knee on the goddamn table."

Levi pushed off the couch and dropped his comforter on Eren's face, not bothering to comment on the kid's morning potty mouth. He walked on wobbly legs, feeling the strain of Eren's heavy body sleeping on his thighs. When he got back, Eren was sitting on the floor, Levi's comforter wrapped around him.

"It's chilly," he commented.

"Yeah, but it's not raining." To prove his point, Levi pulled back the curtains to reveal the long glass windows. It wasn't sunny outside, but the streets were definitely dry. The sky was a mix of grey and blue, and every now and then the sun would peek out from big chunks of clouds.

"Wow."

"I know. I swear to god, there were birds chirping outside when I woke up. Crazy." He let his body collapse on the sofa once again, using his arm to cover his eyes. He felt the comforter drape over him and removed the arm to look at Eren.

"I'm gonna make breakfast. Bacon?"

"Thanks," he replied, ruffling the kid's hair. He chuckled when he heard Eren whine something about Levi treating him like a kid.

When Eren left for the kitchen, Levi sat up and massaged his temples. He had work later and the weather outside wasn't exactly telling him that he could stay in. He took the comforter and went to his room and tidied it up. By the time he entered the kitchen, breakfast was ready.

He smirked at Eren as he approached the counter. "I told you,  _so much for healthy living_." He grabbed a fork and put some egg into his mouth, following it with bacon.

Eren poured him a glass of water and started to eat his own food, using bare hands. He chuckled at Levi's sneer of disgust. "Do you think there are people in the world who'd say no to bacon?"

Levi finished chewing before answering. "I don't know, Eren. Vegetarians, maybe? Vegans? People allergic to meat?"

Eren rolled his eyes at him. "Thanks, captain." He threw another bacon strip into his mouth and Levi paused to give him the stink eye.

"You're the one asking stupid questions," he said, shrugging. He flashed Eren some teeth when he faked a smile and the teen completely stopped eating. "What?"

A surprised laugh bubbled out from the kid's chest and he visibly turned a soft pink. "Nothing, just didn't know you could actually smile like that. You know, not the grins and smirks."

"Really, Eren," Levi drawled. "Next time, take a picture. It'll last until the next century because that's when I'll smile like that again."

"Yup," the brunet replied. "I'll have my phone always at the ready."

They made more idle chitchat while eating and then Levi insisted that he could wash the dishes alone ("It's just two fucking plates, one fork, and a pan, calm yourself.") and then he asked Eren if he had plans for the afternoon.

"I thought you already knew how boring I am?" He was smiling when he said this. "I don't have anything to do."

"You're not boring, kid." Before Eren could say anything, Levi continued, "The weather's fucking nice so I thought we could drive around for a bit until before I have to go to work. Knowing Hanji, she probably didn't have enough manners to actually tour you around."

Eren looked ecstatic. He chuckled and scratched his cheek. "Yeah, she hasn't. Toured me around, I mean. That sounds like an awesome plan, by the way."

"Okay, kid, don't get a stroke, we're gonna go to fucking Disneyland. Shower first, though. I'm not taking your ass around town if you come out smelling like pizza and bacon."

* * *

Levi dressed lightly, a simple button down and some jeans. Eren came down clad in something similar but instead of a button down, he wore a long sleeve shirt. Levi raised the keys in his hand and asked the brunet if he was ready to go.

"Ready."

They went down to the building's parking lot and Eren mock-whistled (the kid couldn't whistle at all) at the Mercedes. Levi called him a retard.

"Do I need to put my seatbelt on?" Eren asked while Levi climbed into the driver's seat. The younger male started to look around the car, even inspecting the backseats.

"Don't need to, but do whatever, just don't make a mess in here." He turned the engine on and the car roared to life. Once they pulled out from the building and hit the road, Levi turned on the stereo.

"You know, I've always thought that you seem to be awfully rich for a pharmacist," Eren started. "You have a nice two-storey flat in a nice apartment complex, your car's more than nice, your fridge is overflowing with food, and you have a nice TV set."

Levi took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Eren and shrugged. "Thanks?"

"You're not involved in illegal stuff, right?"

"Like what?" Levi asked, trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

"I dunno… selling people's organs?" Eren tried.

"That sounds like something your aunt would do, not me." He changed radio stations when he heard Nicki Minaj go on.

"You're right, it does." Eren was quiet for a while and Levi glanced at him, seeing that he was concentrating on thinking. "Or, you could be selling illegal drugs or under the counter medications, since you work in a pharmacy…"

Levi sighed. "Nice try, kid. Sounds shady, totally my type."

Eren laughed, asking Levi if he could change the station. He fiddled around with it for a while before he stopped at one song with cheery voices singing a duet. "You don't like Nicki Minaj?"

"I don't understand a word that comes out her mouth," Levi admitted. "And to answer your question, I'm not exactly just a pharmacist, Eren. I'm like the head pharmacist slash supervisor, plus the hospital I work in is the biggest one in town, Sina."

Eren momentarily looked like he was shocked but then he quickly recovered and scoffed. "Rich old man."

Levi had to smile. "Being a lonely, old man has its benefits, child. Like this car, for example." He sent a smile at Eren's way and shook his head at the skeptic expression the kid was giving him, like there was something he wanted to say. "What?"

Eren shut the radio off and Levi saw him shake his head from his peripherals. "Nothing, nothing. Where are we now?"

"Still in town, but we're going to the shopping district. I know a nice coffee place and it's a block away from Sina, so I'll let you see that first."

Eren looked excited to see the hospital and Levi thought it was silly. He pulled into the parking lot and greeted the security guard with a nod. He looked surprised to see him there so early.

"He's with me," Levi said, pulling Eren by the wrist. "Erwin's in yet?"

"Yeah, didn't take his car, though."

Levi nodded and pulled Eren along after throwing in a quick thanks to the guard. They entered the hospital through the back door and emerged inside the main pharmacy building. Levi saw Petra working at the counter with a few other familiar faces and she immediately noticed them.

"Levi! Oh my god, this must be Eren," she exclaimed, wide eyes trained on the tanned brunet. Levi felt Eren slightly turn to look at him and he suppressed a sigh.

He looked around the place and decided that it was lax enough for a quick introduction. "Hey. Eren, this is Petra, obviously a coworker, Pertra, this is Eren, yada yada."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Eren." She extended a hand and Eren took it. "Wow, your eyes really are insane."

Eren made a choking sound from behind his throat. "E-excuse me?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it in a bad way! I meant that it's really so bright and… well, green." At Eren's confused expression, she hurried to add, "I've heard so much about you, specially whenever I'm assigned the night shift."

This time, Levi really did sigh and he even added an eye roll for extra effect. "Yeah, no, she's exaggerating." He pretended he didn't see the wink Petra sent at Eren's way. "Erwin in the office?"

"Yes, he just came back. Go ahead," she said. She gave Levi a knowing smile and he almost rushed to get Eren away from her, but not before they were able to wave goodbye at each other.

"Who's Erwin, again? What does he do?"

"He's like the other supervisor," Levi explained. "He's not exactly my boss, but I follow orders from him. He works the morning and afternoon shift while I work the rest."

They approached the office and Levi gave the door two quick rasps.

"Come in," Erwin called from the other side and Levi lead Eren inside. The man's eyebrow arched when he saw his visitors. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise."

"It's your fucking birthday," Levi announced in a monotone. "This is our favorite person's nephew."

Erwin stood up and closed the distance between them, shaking Eren's hand, like what Petra did. "Glad to see you again, Eren."

"Again?" Eren repeated. Levi almost felt sorry for him, all these confusing people suddenly telling him crazy shit.

"Well, I went with Hanji to visit your family back when you were still a little kid, so I technically already met you before this. You remember that, Levi?"

He had to think for a while but he did remember saying no to Hanji pleading for him to visit California with her and Erwin for some sort of house blessing (he also remembers blatantly telling her that he wasn't going to goddamn California just to watch someone sprinkle water all over a house). He nodded his recognition and Eren smiled.

"I think I kinda do remember seeing a really tall man then," Eren told him and he looked like he honestly did.

"Guy's a giant," Levi casually said, earning a chuckle from Erwin.

"The memory would be fonder if you saw a giant  _and_  a midget."

"Oh, yeah? Fuck you, too, Erwin, we're leaving." Levi flipped him off after he and Eren said their bye's and out from Eren's sight. He was hardly out the door when Erwin made his rebuttal.

"Oh, and Levi, kid really does have nice eyes."

They encountered a few more people who he introduced to Eren, and one of them was Dot Pixis. Now, this guy Eren knew. Apparently, he was Eren's neighbor back in California, before the old man moved to a different hospital and to a different state. They chatted for a couple minutes while Levi left to talk to one the doctors he knew. When he came back, Pixis was gone.

"Sorry, did you wait long? Where's the old man?"

"Nah, he just left. Said he needed to go to the director," Eren told him, all smiles.

"You look happy," Levi observed as they walked to the coffee shop he mentioned earlier.

"That's 'cause I am," the brunet admitted. He looked at Levi and gave him a wide smile. "Thanks for taking me here, Levi. And for introducing me to all those people. I even got to see my former neighbor and I really liked that man."

Levi patted his back, his own way of saying that it was no big deal. "Now you know where to go if you ever need to. You can get Hanji's work schedule from her. Maybe you could even work there when the time comes, I don't know."

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking about, even talked about it with Pixis," he told Levi. They entered the shop and Eren seemed to be overwhelmed by the smell of coffee and pastries, the warmth of the place, and the homey music playing in the background. "This is amazing."

"Try not to drool." He made Eren sit on his usual place on the far end, by the windows. He ordered him a classic hot caramel latte and an espresso for himself. Levi added a plate of sandwiches to his order and paid everything on the counter.

When he sat down in front of the teen, he was looking out the window and humming an unfamiliar tune. Levi thought that Eren didn't really fit in there, with his tan skin, barely-there child-like features, and eyes so vibrant and alive, it made it seem like everything he saw in this world was sunshine and daisies. He stuck out in quiet and mellow places like this, but not like a sore thumb. In a way, he made the place look livelier just by being there.

"Got any hobbies, kid?" Levi found himself asking, breaking the silence.

"Seriously, stop calling me a kid, brat, child, and every other synonym you can think of." Although he said this, Eren didn't look the least bit mad at being called any of those, but Levi didn't tell him that. "I do art sometimes, sketching."

Levi raised an eyebrow; that was surprising. "Well, wow. Any good?"

"No," the way Eren said it, it was like he laughed it out. "But I can show it to you later, when you get back from work."

Somehow, Levi doubted that Eren wasn't good. He seemed like the kind of kid who worked really hard at things. Before he could voice his thoughts, their order arrived. Eren burned his tongue and had to cool it down by sticking it out for a few minutes while Levi tried not to laugh. They left the shop after finishing their food and Levi toured him around a bit on foot, then on car when he circled the small town, all the way back to his house. He dropped Eren off after eating dinner at a popular fast food chain a few streets away from the residential part of town.

"What about your coat?" Eren asked, leaning on the car's open window.

"It''s okay, I have an extra at the hospital. Get yourself inside before it starts to rain."

Eren nodded, managing to slide in another, "Thanks, Levi."

"See you, kid. Try not to bore yourself to death."

"Earlier today you said I'm not boring."

"Oops," he said this with the straightest face he could muster before speeding off.

He had to hang around the office for a while because his shift wasn't due for another hour and a half so he arranged the files on Erwin's deck, earning him a hearty thank you from the man. He felt like he was hearing those words too much today so he decided to start his shift early, slipping on the pristine white coat. Some of the braver pharmacists, mostly the seniors, teased him about bringing a kid with him, while the interns pretended not to be listening. They stopped after he politely told them to shut the fuck up.

When he got home, he heard Eren's voice coming from somewhere inside the house, and someone was talking to him. "Eren?" he called out, toeing his shoes off. Why the hell was the kid up so early and who the hell was he talking to?

Before he made it to the kitchen, Hanji's head popped into view from a corner and slightly startled him. "Levi!" She ran towards him and practically hugged the breath out of him. He hugged back before it turned into him frantically patting the crazed woman's back, telling her to let him go before he died.

"I'm home!" she announced, like Levi couldn't see that. She gave him a once-over and flicked her forehead. "Did you come here directly from the airport, you idiot?"

"Not really, no. I dropped my things at my place before I decided that I wanted to visit my favorite small guy because big guy's sleeping." She started bouncing on her feet. "Also, also, I wanted to pick up Eren early so we can open the gifts together, unless you want to join on in the fun?"

"No, thank you very much."

Right on cue, Eren appeared, a single duffel bag slung on his shoulder. He was still wearing his clothes from their little trip.

"Could you really not have waited until a more reasonable time?"

Levi immediately knew that he made the wrong move, with the way a smile slowly crept on Hanji's mouth. "Why, gonna miss someone?" As she said this, she wiggled her eyebrows at Levi.

"Fuck, you're creepy, get out."

"Fine, I'll just find a way for you to get the souvenirs or you can drop by, whatever works. You'll love them," she swore. "Thanks for taking care of my baby Eren, Levi. You're a-ma-zing."

He ignored Hanji in favor of looking at Eren, who gave him a sheepish smile. He barely noticed Hanji making a detour to his kitchen, probably to steal his food or to give them some alone time.

"Thanks for having me these past few weeks, Levi," Eren said earnestly, his grip on the bag tightening.

"Don't sweat it, kid. It was fun. I'll see you around." Levi didn't want to make it any more awkward than how it already was so he patted the kid on his back, and then Hanji was back (with an apple in her mouth and another in her hand) and then they were saying bye and good night and thank you to Levi that he decided that he didn't want to hear the word "thank" for a whole week.

When he shut the door behind them, he waited a few moments for their voices to die out, a bit thrown off by the silence that greeted him. He changed into more comfortable clothes and crawled into bed, trying not to think about how empty the whole house was again, and forced himself to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i do not intend to offend any nicki minaj fans istg it's just that levi's anaconda dont want--  
> it's 5 am this is probably shitty af so pls talk to me on tumblr: levirens.tumblr.com or on twitter i'm @ejacyeolate


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED.

The first thing Levi noticed when he woke up was that the place was quiet, save for the sound of the rain drizzling down outside. He flipped over so he was lying on his back, facing the ceiling.

No one knocked on his door and told him that lunch's ready.

He got up and somehow managed to drag himself into the bathroom where he washed his face and rinsed his mouth with water. He looked at the mirror and almost drowned himself inside the tub. Fuck, he looked horrible.

When he entered the kitchen, he thought it was somehow weird, like something was off. Had the table been moved? Were all the things moved? Was his kitchen dirty? Were the tableware replaced without him knowing?

No, it was just that there was no food ready and there was nothing on the counter, because no one made it for him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to get a hang of it. There was no point in feeling whatever it was he was feeling right now (he didn't even know what it was) because he needed to eat something and  _do something_  instead of just standing in the middle of his kitchen and staring at the place where a certain brunet always sat down.

"Fucking get a grip of yourself, old man," he said, partly to mask the silence and partly to actually scold himself. He moved to start on lunch, coming up with a simple dish that didn't even take ten minutes to make. While he was eating, he kept glancing out the window, at the steady drizzle outside, and thought that it would have been a nice day to watch random movies.

It was still so silent.

He grabbed his plate and moved to the couch, where he flipped the TV on and listened to the news. He found that he wasn't really focusing on it, just letting the sounds fill the room, so he grabbed the remote and turned it off. A few minutes passed then he was turning it on again, a frown settling between his brows.

No one was inside the laundry room, making a bubble machine out of his washing machine.

When he finished his food and had the dishes done, he walked over to the guest room. He checked to see if the previous occupant had left anything behind, but he found none. There was nothing inside the drawers, the closet, the small bathroom, under the bed, just nothing. The heater was working again, the bed was made as if no one had ever used it, and the room was back to being just a guest room.

He knew he shouldn't have gotten used to the company that was Eren Jaeger, and now he was feeling the effects of it.

* * *

"I saw Hanji around. She almost killed me with a hug."

Levi stuffed his hands inside his coat pockets, twirling his seat around. "She did the same with me."

"I heard. Must have been tough on you," Erwin said, putting away his stuff inside a bag. They were mostly souvenirs from Hanji, Levi noticed.

"Yeah, well, she was inside the house even before I got home, so that didn't really leave me much of a choice. I don't know why the fuck she had to take Eren back so early in the morning, but this  _is_  Hanji we're talking about."

Erwin laughed, slinging the bag onto his back. "Don't get too lonely without the kid around, Levi." He patted said man on the head and then he was leaving the office, stopping by the door to give Levi a last knowing smile.

Levi concluded that he really, really hated the both of them, Hanji and Erwin. "Go to hell."

The door slammed shut behind Erwin. Levi felt a headache forming and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple, elbow resting on the table. He was in this position when he heard a knock on the door and clicked his tongue.

"Come in," he called out, already feeling stressed even though his work day hadn't even really started yet.

"Levi? I'm going home now," Petra said, peeking her head in through the door. "Wow, you look awful."

"Thanks, I needed that," Levi replied, pulling back his arm and leaning back against his chair.

"Sorry." She giggled, properly entering the room. "But I really mean it. Is there something up, boss?"

"Nothing much, really, just Erwin being an asshat and Hanji being a fucking bother."

Petra smiled at him and Levi felt a little bit better. "Doesn't sound like anything new, does it?"

"You're right. I should have gotten used to it by now."

There's a pause, Petra still smiling and Levi raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't miss Eren too much, boss, I'm sure you'll see him again."

Levi groaned. "Don't let those crazy ideas run too wild inside your head, Petra. And I thought you were already leaving?"

"Get his number from Doctor Zoe."

"Petra."

"So you can ask him out for lunch or something, right?"

"Wrong, go home."

With a final chuckle, she waved and left Levi alone. He glanced at the clock and decided that it was time to start his shift. He worked the counter for a bit, even though he knew he wasn't the best person for it because he wasn't the most pleasant and most patient worker in there, but neither was Auruo Bossard. After a while, he transferred into the storage room to deal with orders and calls instead.

He was on a coffee break when he happened to run into his least favorite person of the day.

"Levi! I'm so glad I managed to see you here! I mean, not referencing to your height or anything," Hanji told him, one hand stuffed inside her coat pocket, the other holding her own cup of coffee.

Levi rolled his eyes at her, too tired to comment on the height joke. "Surprised to see you here, four-eyes. Don't you have jetlag? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"Aw, are you worried about me?" Hanji moved to hug him but he swiftly stepped away, choosing to sit down on one of the plastic chairs lining the wall. Hanji pouted but followed him.

"What's the problem, Levi? You look like you could use a few more extra hours of sleep."

"I wonder why that is… probably because a deranged woman forced her way into my house to get back her nephew at five in the morning." Levi sipped his coffee, willing the caffeine to do its work on his nerves.

"Sorry," she said, extending the  _o_. "I didn't know you wanted to keep him for a while longer."

Levi almost smacked a hand against his face. "God, why does everyone keep getting the wrong idea?"

Hanji patted the raven on the head, much like how she would pat her dogs. It took every ounce of Levi's patience not to break her arm. "You and Eren are so cute, I swear."

"Right, please don't associate me with whatever weird sense of cute you have," he said, lightly pushing her hand away. Hanji dug it into her pocket again and it emerged holding out an array of candies. "What?"

"Take some! It can help with the bad mood." She kept pushing it to him; her hand was almost pressed to his face. He took one that read  _90% cocoa_  and made a show of popping it into his mouth.

He almost did a double take. "It's bitter as fuck."

"I let you choose." She shrugged and put the candies back into her pocket.

"What are those for? Giving them to patients again?" he asked, already feeling the chocolate melt in his mouth. It got better and Levi thought it wasn't so bad, just a bit stronger than his regular dark chocolate.

"No, they're for me," Hanji admitted, throwing away her empty cup and fixing her ponytail. "I have an operation later."

Levi understood what that meant. If Hanji needed candy and chocolate before an operation, that meant that she was nervous about it, and that also meant that it was going to be a major one. "Good luck, glasses. Try not to fuck it up."

"I'll give it my best shot, Shorty," Hanji replied, ruffling Levi's hair despite the glare he directed at her. She laughed and stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "When are you going to pick up your souvenirs?"

"I don't see why I have to pick it up when Eyebrows got his delivered to him."

"But that's Eyebrows, you're Shorty, I'm Glasses." Hanji glanced at the watch placed on her wrist. "Whoops, gotta get going now. See you later, Levi."

"Get a concussion," was the raven's answer. It only earned him a loud laugh that had people turning their heads to look at Hanji. "Remind me to never let people see me with you in public."

* * *

The following mornings weren't much different. He woke up, made food, ate alone, enjoyed TV alone, and basically everything that he had been doing before Eren came along. He didn't hear from the brat after he left the house, except when Hanji would occasionally mention him whenever they saw each other at the hospital.

"He's so busy right now, running around doing stuff for college," Hanji once told Levi. He figured that Eren  _would be_  busy, August was just around the corner, after all.

Levi pushed his dinner around his plate, idly listening to the news. He lost his appetite and was starting to wonder what Eren found so special about the food he made. He was thinking about cleaning before getting ready for work, but then he remembered that he had already cleaned the entire house after eating lunch.

He glanced at the clock, 6:45 PM. Still plenty of time to waste, nothing to waste it on, he thought. If Eren was around, the brunet would insist that they watch something on TV to kill time, just like what Levi was doing right now. Still, it would have felt different.

The whole house felt different without the brunet running around, bothering him, asking him stupid questions, Levi hearing him talking to someone on the phone, watching him cleaning and smacking him on the head for doing a horrible job at it. It wasn't like Levi missed the kid, for fuck's sake, it was just that his schedule and routine got thrown off again and he was readjusting. Or at least that was what he tried to tell himself over and over again.

In the back of his head, he knew he was a lost cause.

"Maybe I should get a dog," he thought out loud. He would have to potty train it so it wouldn't shit and piss all over the house. He left before eight so he could still give it dinner, then he would have to leave it all alone in the house until he got back. Would the dog get lonely? Do dogs get lonely? Yeah, they probably do. They also make a fucking mess when no one's around.

He could get the small type because the smaller they are, the smaller their shit, right? Also, the lazy type that would just sleep while he's gone so he wouldn't feel guilty about leaving it all alone. He'd have a companion to wait for him and greet him when he got home, have someone to eat meals with, watch TV with, run around while he cleaned the house and made a mess while it was at it.

He pulled out his phone and typed a message to Hanji, asking her if she knew where he could get a dog, but then he thought better of it and deleted the message before he could send it.

It was when he was in the shower and had accidentally rubbed shampoo all over his eyes that he finally admitted to himself that he was indeed very lonely.

"Whoa, bad day?" Erwin asked him the moment he entered the office. Levi flipped him off with the finger.

"Seriously, Levi. Have you been getting enough sleep lately? I know your schedule's crazy and all, but you look extra horrible today."

"I'm sorry for not being aesthetically pleasing enough for you, Smith, please hop off my dick. Or you could get me coffee, if you're being generous enough." Levi pretended to inspect his nails as he talked. He looked up and saw that Erwin was shaking his head but was giving him a smile. "Stop worrying about me, it's creepy. Everyone's being creepy."

"Well, we wouldn't be worrying about you if you didn't come to work looking like you wanted to kill everyone," Erwin chided, rising from his seat, bag already slung over his shoulder.

"I always look this way, might I remind you."

"And like I said, you look extra horrible today."

Levi collapsed on his chair. "Remind me why I'm friends with you when all you do is insult my physical appearance."

Erwin only chuckled, waving him off before leaving the room. Right before Levi set to work, someone knocked on his office door.

"From Erwin," Auruo told him, handing him a cup of coffee.

Levi couldn't help the small smirk that stretched on his lips. On the cup, a small sticky note was attached that read,  _This is why I'm your friend._

"Fucking dork," Levi murmured, silently thanking the blonde for the coffee. It definitely helped brighten up his mood a bit.

When he got home, the exhaustion started to kick in, weighing him down. He took a pill for the headache that had managed to bloom during his shift at the hospital, when two interns managed to fuck up an order from a doctor  _twice_ , when Auruo got into a small argument with a patient who kept insisting that his health card was still valid although it needed to be renewed, and when Levi had to deal with all these mishaps. The coffee Erwin had given him was clearly not enough to help him though the catastrophe of today, but neither were the following cups he took during his short break. To say that he wanted to sleep until next week was an understatement.

Levi stood under the stream of hot water that rushed down from the shower, letting the water do its magic on his muscles. Tomorrow was his day off and it was a well deserved one, considering everything that he had gone through that week. When he was done cleaning his body of the dirt and grime and all of humanity's bullshit that had managed to cling to him, he settled inside the tub, pretending that it was a bubble bath instead of just a tub filled with warm water. When he started to feel the struggle of keeping his eyes open, he decided that it really was time to go to bed.

Cleaned and tired beyond his capacity, Levi thought he would fall asleep the moment his head hit the soft pillows, and he was almost there when his phone went off. He cursed and used every profanity he knew, waiting for the thing to go silent. When it did, it only took a couple of heartbeats before it went off again.

Levi was officially done. He grabbed the phone with unnecessary force, blindly sliding his thumb over the screen to answer the call.

"What?" he spit out, holding his tongue so he wouldn't swear at the person on the other line. For all he knew, it could be one of the higher-ups from the hospital and if it was, his greeting was already a very bad way to start a phone call with his boss.

_"Hey, it's Eren."_

Levi paused. He felt his breath get stuck in his throat and he pulled the phone away for a second to stare at the numbers on the screen, before pressing it back again to his ear. He wanted to yell at Eren and tell him that he's a retard.

"Yeah," was what he managed to say instead, flinging a hand to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

He didn't ask how the teen managed to get his number (he probably got it from Hanji) or why he was calling so late. He didn't ask when he got the number, or why he was calling now, at this time of the day. He didn't ask why he asked for the number, why Eren didn't visit, didn't ask anything. He just listened to the boy's breathing, listened to Eren sounding like he was about to say something but stopping himself all the time.

_"I miss you, Levi."_

Maybe Levi should have expected that, but he didn't. He was starting to get mad because he could feel the sleepiness fading away as his heart, dare he admit, started to beat louder in his chest. It was stupid, because he wasn't a goddamn teenager. It was also stupid because he knew what he wanted to say, but he just closed his eyes, not stopping the tiny smile that formed on his face.

"Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i intended to finish this earlier but biological problems arose so yes this is not me making up an excuse ok


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED.

_"I used to get into fights a lot."_

"Not all that surprising, really," Levi drawled. He tried to stifle a yawn but still heard Eren pause to laugh.

_"Yeah, and I especially got into fights with this Jean person. I swear, he looks like such a horse, just seeing his face will annoy anyone."_

Levi actually snorted at that. "You have very strong feelings for this Jean guy."

_"He used to hit on my sister until he decided that he wanted someone else, so yes, I do have very strong feelings for him. Of hatred, that is."_

"You must look so cute after all these fights, looking like a panda and all."

_"Your sarcasm hurts me, Levi, ouch."_

"Glad to hear that." Levi turned his head to look out the window, watching the grey clouds loom over the city. It didn't take long before it started to rain. "Guess what, it's raining."

 _"Surprise, surprise,"_  Eren replied. Levi thought he heard the teen sigh before speaking again.  _"Should you go to sleep now?"_

"I should, yes. Can I sleep now, Eren?"

 _"Yes, you can, Levi."_  Said man rolled his eyes.  _"I'm kidding. Sorry for keeping you up so… early? Yeah. I guess I just got a bit carried away."_

The raven-haired man hummed, watching as the rain visibly pelted down harder. He felt calm, lying in bed, covered in warm and soft sheets. The calmness, as he tried to tell himself, had nothing to do with the fact that he had a phone pressed to his ear, talking to a certain brat. " _A bit_. Right, Jaeger."

Laughing, Eren kept laughing.  _"Good mornight, Levi."_

"Good morning, retard."

Levi pulled the phone away from his ear, thinking he heard Eren say "I'm not a retard" before he was able to hit END CALL. He tossed the phone lightly to the side, getting up to go to the bathroom. When he came back, his screen was lit up and it told him that he had received a new message.

**"I'm not a retard." Message received: 7:17 AM**

He shook his head, deciding that he was going to ignore Eren. He slid under the covers of his bed again and then felt the phone vibrate in his hand.

**"Sleep well :)" Message received: 7:18 AM**

"Is this kid shitting me?" He started to type out a response but deleted it halfway, figuring that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep if he humored the teenager's attempts at texting.

Levi glanced at the clock on his bedside table, the digits 7:20 flashing in red print. It was 20 minutes pass seven o'clock in the morning, and he was still awake. He stared down at the phone that was clutched inside his hand, feeling the heat because of the long period of using it.

He wondered who was paying for Eren's phone bill and had the heart to feel sorry for them, whoever it was. Two hours of continuous talking on the phone was bound to be expensive, after all. As he thought about this, he realized that he had been on the phone, talking to Eren Jaeger, for two hours, instead of sleeping. He had been on the phone with Eren, talking about useless stuff that would not, in any way, benefit humanity.

He rolled on his stomach, placing the phone beside the digital clock. He blinked a couple of times, willing the sleep to come. When he looked the clock again, it told him that it was ten minutes before eight. With this, Levi concluded that, "I'm so fucked."

* * *

When he woke up approximately seven hours later, the first thing he did was look for his daily caffeine fix. He was holding a steaming hot mug of coffee in both hands and staring down at his phone. He took a sip and opened his messages. There was one from Erwin, two from Hanji, none from Eren.

He read the three messages he received and replied to none of them. His phone told him that it was a few past two in the afternoon, obviously too late to have breakfast. He would have to do with late lunch. He kept thinking about the lunch he planned to make but never actually got up from his seat, until his mug was empty and he was refilling it. He was halfway through his second cup when he picked up his phone again and scrolled through his contacts. He paused, faltered for a couple of seconds, before he started to type up a message.

"I'm up now, brat." He deleted this.

"Good afternoon." He thought it sounded weird so he deleted this, too.

**"Yes, you are a retard." Message sent: 2:12 PM**

He left the phone on the table for a while, walking over to the fridge to inspect its contents. He made a mental note to do his groceries soon, seeing as he was running low on resources. He was contemplating just doing a simple omelet when he heard his phone go off. Startled, he almost banged his head on the top of shelf of the fridge, cursing under his breath. He walked back to the counter and sighed.

Eren was calling. He took the phone and swiped his finger on the screen to answer it. "Who's paying for your phone bills?"

The line was quiet for a moment, until Eren's confused voice chimed in.  _"Uh, my parents? Why? And hello to you, too, Levi."_

"Was just wondering how a college student could afford to pay his bills when he keeps calling people."

 _"I only call you, though,"_  Eren argued. He sounded normal again, not like Levi sprung him up with a weird question the moment the older male picked up the phone.

"I thought you talked to your sister and that best friend of yours every day."

_"Yeah, I do, but they call, not me. It's easier."_

"You're still wasting money by calling me, brat. And it's not even your money." Levi walked back to the fridge, using his hip to keep it open as he continued to raid it. "Fuck, I'm hungry."

 _"Do you want me to come over and make something for you?"_  Eren offered. For a second, Levi was tempted to take him up on it.

"Don't be stupid. I'm a perfectly functional adult, I can handle my own meals."

There's another pause, followed by a snort.  _"Right. Whatever you say."_  Levi could hear the smile in Eren's voice and he gritted his teeth.  _"I'll leave you alone now so you can do functional adult stuff and handle your meal, then."_

"That's so considerate of you, thank you very much."

True to his words, Eren hung up after openly laughing at Levi. The older male shook his head stupidly at the phone, as if Eren would be able to see his disapproval through the small device. He set to work on his lunch, whipping out a simple cheese omelet in less than ten minutes. He was eating his meal when his phone vibrated.

**"What are you going to make?" Message received: 2:24 PM**

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Omelet," he texted back. Less than a minute later, his phone vibrated again.

**"Sounds creative." Message received: 2:26 PM**

**"Fuck you." Message sent: 2:26 PM**

* * *

Tuesday afternoon, Levi was scrolling through his Facebook news feed when he heard someone ring the doorbell. He checked his phone and saw that Eren had texted him to say that he was there.

 _Genius,_  Levi thought, padding his way to get the door. He was greeted with a huge grin from Eren.

"Hey."

"Are you going to stand there forever?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you going to let me in?" The grin turned into the kind of smile that made Levi's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"Okay, go back to Hanji's cave, then—" Levi was about to slam the door in the brunet's face but Eren was quicker, stepping in and pulling Levi to him. Levi found his nose pressed to Eren's jacket and blinked. He tilted his face so his chin was resting on the taller's shoulder.

"What. The. Fuck. What's the big idea, brat?" He clicked his tongue, awkwardly shifting his weight to his other foot.

"Sorry, sorry. I just feel like it's been forever since I last saw you," Eren answered.

"Wow, you're such a fucking sap, I can't believe it." Despite this, Levi patted the kid on the back and let his hand stay there. "It's only been two weeks; you can save me the drama."

Eren laughed. For a moment, Levi felt the teen's arms tighten around him then Eren was stepping back, beaming at Levi. "Have you eaten yet?"

"You sound like a housewife, stop," Levi said, pulling away and heading back to the living room. "Don't you have anything else to do?"

"Except bother you? Nope." Eren followed after him, looking around the house. "Wow, I feel nostalgic. Weird."

"That's because you're a weirdo. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Coffee sounds perfect to me," Eren told him. He seated himself on the couch and looked up at Levi. "Can I use this?"

"Sure, go crazy." Levi left and went to the kitchen, starting up the coffee maker. It took a while for the black liquid to be ready so Levi managed to look for a jar of cookies that he never knew he had. Thankfully, they weren't expired yet.

He was in the process of making Eren's coffee when he realized that he had somehow managed to figure out the way the brunet wanted his drink. He scowled, silently cursing Eren. He carried both mugs and had the cookie jar secured under his arm, walking back to where Eren was.

Much to his annoyance, the brunet was too engrossed in whatever he was doing to notice Levi returning, so he wasn't offered any help. He set the mugs down and pressed the cookie jar to Eren's cheek.

"Wow, cookies!" Eren exclaimed, snatching the jar from Levi. The older male sighed and sat down beside him.

"It's Christmas, hoho," he said in monotone. He glanced at the laptop and almost choked on his saliva. "Eren, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to stalk someone using his own account."

Eren was already munching on a cookie and had to finish it before speaking. "It's fun. This way, I can see private posts."

Levi gave him an incredulous look. "You're invading my privacy, you twat."

"I swear, I didn't look through any of your messages or notifications, not even your friend requests."

Levi shook his head, lightly punching Eren on the shoulder. "Right, brat." Eren grinned at him then resumed his stalking, and Levi noticed that he had shed his jacket and revealed that he was wearing a fairly simple plain white t-shirt. What caught Levi's attention, though, was how he felt like Eren had somehow lost weight. "Does Hanji even feed you?"

Eren looked confused and Levi mentally punched himself for thinking that it was cute, Eren's eyebrow drawn together, a cookie in between his lips. He removed the cookie from his mouth to speak. "Well, she's really not all that talented when it comes to cooking so I have to cook the meals most of the time, or we order take out."

"You've become thinner is what I'm trying to say here, Eren. Sorry, didn't think your mind was incapable of processing that."

Eren's mouth formed an O before turning down into a frown. "I don't think I did?"

"You're not as bright as your eyes, are you?" Levi sipped on his coffee and pulled out his phone. When he didn't get an answer, he glanced at Eren, whose face was tinted with pink. "Why the fuck are you blushing?"

The brunet had the gall to laugh, placing his palm over his mouth then scratching his nose. "I just noticed… you… even at the hospital people kept mentioning it, it's like you have something going on for my eyes, Levi."

Levi almost spit his coffee. "You're too fucking cocky for your own good, kid. And you have nice eyes, green and bright and huge and beautiful and shit, so what?"

Eren's face grew redder and he laughed harder, leaning away from Levi and covering his mouth with his hand again. The older male gave him time to compose himself, rolling his eyes and stealing the laptop away. Eren kept trying to say something but he would get interrupted by his own laughter, so Levi gave up on listening.

"Okay, I'm good now," Eren declared, reaching for his coffee and laughing a bit before bringing the mug to his lips.

"Amazing. For a second, I thought you would shit your pants there."

"I wasn't laughing that hard, jeez."

"You were, you looked retarded. Do you even want to explain what's so funny?" Levi looked away from the screen and made direct eye contact with Eren, who was looking at him with this adoring smile, Levi had to raise an eyebrow.

"I was just thinking that I've just heard one of the best compliments in my life, so thank you, Levi, for complimenting my  _green and bright and huge and beautiful and shit_  eyes," Eren finished saying this with such a triumphant grin plastered on his face, Levi was torn between smacking him on the head and patting him.

Eren stayed there for a few more hours until Levi had to go to work, so he dropped the teenager off at Hanji's house and drove to the hospital. When he got to work, the first thing he heard from Erwin was, "You're smiling. It looks weird."

* * *

On Friday night, he noticed something odd. Something was off, and he knew what it was; Eren had not texted or called him the whole day. Usually, the kid would send him a simple "Good morning" text every morning, then they would kick off the conversation from that. Eren would also leave "Sleep well" messages when he thought Levi was about to go to sleep, and Levi would reply with a small message of his own. Indeed, it was sappy and they were acting like high school students, but if Levi was being honest, it really wasn't bad.

So he thought it was only natural for him to wonder why the brunet had not contacted him the whole day. He thought up several possible reasons, including a phone bill so large, his parents put him on a cell phone ban. He also considered the possibility that Eren might have lost his phone, because Eren Jaeger was one hell of an idiot.

He was about to leave work when he got a message from said brunet, and it was a simple, "Be careful on your way back :)" and nothing else. Levi was confused, but it wasn't like he expected an explanation as to why he was getting the silent treatment all of a sudden, so he replied and went home. When he checked his phone before going to sleep, Eren hadn't replied.

This went on for a week, Eren only texting every now and then, a severe contrast to how often he talked to Levi before. The few times they called each other, Eren sounded so tired, Levi would make up some bullshit excuse to hang up and switch to texting instead. Friday rolled around again, and by then, Levi was really starting to get worried about the kid, but he never bothered to bring up the question;  _is there something wrong?_

He kept thinking that maybe Eren was once again busy with preparations for college, and it wasn't like they didn't talk anymore. Their conversations were put into a minimum for unknown reasons to Levi, and he honestly didn't know what was going on anymore.

Saturday morning, Levi got an unexpected text message from Eren, which he only got to read when he woke up in the afternoon.

**"Hey, Levi? I really want to see you." Message received: 10:42 AM**

He kept staring at the text, and he decided that something really was wrong. He was about to send a reply when his phone vibrated in his hands.

**"You remember that cereal I told you about? I found it in Walmart the other day." Message received: 1:14 PM**

At the mention of Walmart, Levi remembered that he had to do grocery shopping, and now was probably the best time for that.

**"Did you buy it?" Message sent: 1:15 PM**

**"Nah, didn't have money on me that time. Sucks balls." Message received: 1:17 PM**

**"Okay, hold up, I'll message you later." Message sent: 1:18 PM**

Levi left the phone on the counter and went upstairs to snatch a jacket and his car keys. When he returned, there was a single reply from Eren.

**"Okay." Message received: 1:21 PM**

To say that he was confused was understating it, but he really didn't know how to deal with the situation. Eren was obviously bothered by something, Levi could tell that much, but he couldn't bring himself to pry into the teen's business. Were they close enough for that? Sure, they texted and called each other a lot before this week, and sure, Levi enjoyed talking to Eren and Eren seemed to enjoy talking to him, but what did that make of them, really?

He kept thinking about this, even when he was looking at the cereals in Walmart, he had almost missed Hanji (except you couldn't really miss Hanji when she's screaming your name at the top of her lungs).

"Wow, Levi! Didn't think I'd bump into you here," Hanji told him, linking their arms and dragging him away from the cereal he was eyeing. "Do you need to get anything else? Let's pay for these and go somewhere nice!"

Levi didn't even try to argue, just shook his head and went along with the woman. Somehow, he ended up paying for both his and Hanji's groceries, not that she bought a lot of items; just two bottles of dog shampoo and three boxes of cereals. Somehow, the brand sounded familiar to Levi.

"I'm trying to cheer Eren up with these," Hanji said, gesturing to the cereal boxes. She had dragged him to a nearby coffee shop and forced him to have coffee with her.

So he was right about the cereal, and maybe also about Eren. "Is there something wrong with him?" he asked, patting his pockets for his phone, then he remembered that he left it at home and inwardly kicked himself.

"Lots of family bullshit going on right now, poor kid's getting caught in between. I'm sure he'll tell you about it sooner or later."

They told the girl working the counter their orders (Hanji paid this time) and went to sit. "What do you mean, he'll tell me?"

"What, did you think I didn't know that you two talk to each other a lot now? I told you, he will rock your world."

"Of course," Levi murmured, frowning at the table.

"He's like, so hooked and head over heels with you, it's sickeningly endearing," Hanji told Levi. "He keeps mentioning you and the funny part is that it seems like he doesn't even notice it! One moment we would be talking about ordering pizza, and then he'll say something about "Levi and survival tips". It's crazy, I swear to god."

Levi rolled his eyes. " _You're_  crazy and you sound stupid." Their orders arrived before Hanji could speak, giving Levi a way to hide his mouth from sight.

Levi got up and Hanji followed hi, leaving the shop together. Hanji kept giving him a side-eye stare all the way to where he had parked his car, but he made an effort to ignore her.

"You're not telling me something, Levi. Tell me. Now."

The raven huffed, stuffing his hand into his coat pocket. Should he tell Hanji? Well, yes. Hanji's one of his best friends and, although he would never tell her, he loved her like a sister. Also, this was her nephew they were talking about, so he met Hanji's stare and said, "Four eyes, I like a teenager whose eyebrow game is almost as strong as Erwin's."

Hanji's eyes widened behind her glasses, then her mouth broke into a shit-eating grin. She didn't squeal, or laugh, or did anything that Levi expected her to do. She just smiled this gigantic smile at him and looked genuinely and extremely happy for him.

"Fuck, you look so stupid," Levi said, running a hand through his hair. When he looked at Hanji, he groaned, because her smile had morphed into her classically annoying I-told-you-so smile.

"And this, my dear Levi, is why I'm always right," Hanji stated, slinging her arm over Levi's shoulders. "I told you before, didn't I? You're going to love him."

Levi ended up driving Hanji back to her house, and she talked his ear off about Eren this and Eren that. During the ride, it had started to rain and she kept asking him stupid questions like "What do you like about him the most, his eyes?" and "How did you figure out that you like him in that sense?". Most of the time, Levi just tuned her out and kept doing this until they reached her house and he dropped her off (after repeatedly telling her that no, he did not want to say hi to Eren).

He did, though. He did want to "say hi" to the teen, but not when his crazed aunt was around.

* * *

Levi was thinking about how weird the whole situation was, when he looked up and almost dropped his keys. He was more than confused and very much shocked to find Eren standing outside his apartment door, dripping wet. He continued walking until he was standing directly in front of the teen.

"Are you really, really retarded?"

Eren smiled and Levi couldn't help but think that the kid look so tired, he almost wanted to pat him. "Sometimes, I ask myself that."

The older man clicked his tongue, turning to open the door. He let Eren enter before him, then led him to the bathroom. He opened the drawer where he kept fresh towels and grabbed a couple of the big, fluffy materials, tossing them to the teen.

Levi gave him a once over. The teen was shaking from the cold and Levi couldn't help but reach out and take one of the towels from Eren and bring it to his head, ruffling his hair and staring at his forehead.

"You're unbelievable, kid," he said, finally letting his eyes meet with Eren's. The brunet didn't reply, only offering Levi a small smile for his effort.

Levi let go of the towel and stepped away. "I'm going to look for something you can wear, wait here."

He heard Eren mumble a "Thanks" before he left the bathroom, heading upstairs to his room. He rummaged inside his drawers and his closet, trying to look for something that he thought would fit Eren. After a few minutes, he emerged victorious, a simple plaid shirt and some jeans that were both too long for him in his arms. He went back to Eren and gave the teen the clothes, then he left him in favor of making coffee.

He was waiting for the coffee to be ready when he heard Eren approach him. He turned and smirked at the sight. "Fits you well, but it would be perfect if you actually got the buttons right."

Levi fixed the buttons that Eren had somehow messed up, glad that the clothes fit the teen. He popped the buttons open and refastened them properly. He was about to comment on Eren's mistake when he was pulled into a hug, thin arms wrapping around him. Strangely enough, Levi didn't feel like pulling away this time. He raised his arms and, like last time, patted the boy on his back.

He didn't mind that Eren was clinging to him like this, trying to find comfort in Levi. Normally, he would run away from the emotional baggage, but with Eren, Levi found that he didn't mind it. What he did mind, though, was when he felt a kiss being pressed to his neck.

"Eren, I'm 30 years old," he reminded the teen, his hands stilling.

"I'm 19, who cares?" the brunet countered, speaking against Levi's skin, causing the older male to sigh.

"The law, obviously." Levi turned his head away for a second to turn off the coffee machine, then there was a hand under his chin that was forcing him to face the boy that was still pressed against him. He didn't really have time to react or to protest when Eren leaned down and pecked him on the lips.

The kiss didn't last long; Levi didn't even get the chance to close his eyes, even if he wanted to. As soon as it came, Eren's lips were moving away again, unsure eyes staring down at him. The arm that was still wrapped around his waist started to move away, so Levi took hold of Eren's cheek and guided him down for a proper kiss. This one lasted a bit longer than the first.

"Are you happy now?" Levi asked after pulling away, staring up at Eren's eyes.

Eren visibly took a deep breath, exhaling through his nose. A big smile spread across his face, red painting his cheeks. "Yeah, I am."

Levi thought that he, too, somehow felt happy, but he doesn't tell Eren that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> real life bullshit happened. lots of them. smh  
> pls do talk to me on tumblr: levirens.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED.

"Yeah, I'll be staying over, I think," Eren glanced over to Levi as he said this, as if asking for confirmation. Levi nodded his head. "Sorry for suddenly going out like that, Hanji. Yeah, I'll be fine. Yeah, okay, thanks. What? No, why would I say that? Jeez, Hanji. God. Fine, I will. Bye." He pulled the phone away and looked at Levi. "She said hi."

"Judging from what I heard, that's not the only thing she wanted to tell me," Levi quipped, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not something I want to tell you, to be honest."

Levi felt his eyebrow rise higher, but he soon let it go. "If it's not something you want to tell me then it's probably not something I want to hear, either."

They were sitting on the couch again, legs pressed close, bodies twisted so they were slightly facing each other. Eren had somehow developed a runny nose and was now cradling a roll of tissue, occasionally blowing or wiping at his nose.

"But  _is there_  anything you want to tell me, Eren?" Levi asked, voice sounding soft, even to him. "What in the world happened to you that you decided to take a magnificent shower in the rain and then head over here?"

Eren smiled sheepishly at him. "I told you, you know, in the text message, that I wanted to see you." He bit his lower lip, eyebrows drawing together as he looked to somewhere else. "Sorry, that was unexpected."

Levi didn't want to force Eren into telling him what his problems were; he wanted the teen to open up when he wanted to. It seemed like Levi didn't have to wait long, though.

"My parents, they got officially divorced today. My mom called me sometime this week and told me that she was going to sign the papers."

Levi couldn't say that he was shocked; from the moment Hanji told him that Eren was going through family problems, countless possibilities spun inside Levi's head, including this one.

"Me and my sister, we've both seen it coming, I think. Guess we just never wanted to admit it because it made the whole ordeal more… real. I mean, I know mom still loves dad, and dad probably still loves mom, but it just didn't seem like it was still working." Eren paused, blowing his nose, accidentally adding dramatic effect to his story. "They've been discussing the divorce for a few months now, and I didn't want to be around them, so I really pushed through with my request to live with Hanji. Now I don't know if I regret my decision because, if I stayed, I would have seen them together for a few more weeks, but then again, they stopped being, well,  _together_ , even before dad brought up the subject of separating."

Levi nodded, taking in everything. So that was why Eren had dodged Levi's question about his parents the first time he and Levi tried to have an actual conversation. That was why Eren always avoided conversation about his parents, the only thing Levi knew was that Grisha Jaeger was a well known doctor and his mother was the best mother in the whole world. "How's your sister?"

"She's hurt over the whole thing, yeah, but I think she's worried about me, more than anything. Mikasa tends to act like a second mom, for some reason."

Levi nodded. He didn't know what to say, truthfully. Does he say bullshit comfort words like "It'll turn out okay in the end" or "Everything will work out sooner or later"? He really didn't know how to comfort people, so he did the best thing he could think up; he stood up and pulled Eren into a hug, the boy pressing his face into the fabric of clothing that covered Levi's stomach.

"Things are just kind of hard right now," Eren said, voice muffled.

"I know," Levi told him, tentatively pushing his fingers through Eren's brown hair. It felt amazingly soft, Levi noted.

"I'll be okay, though."

"Of course, brat. This is you we're talking about, after all."

Levi felt the arms around his waist tighten. "Thank you, Levi."

"No problem."

Eren was the first to pull back, looking up at Levi with an apologetic grin on his face. "Sorry you have to deal with teenage angst and stuff."

"The only thing you should feel sorry about is the amount of food you eat when you're here," Levi told him, giving Eren his own version of a slanted pull on his lips. "Speaking of food, do you want to help make dinner or are you going to help make dinner, you freeloader?"

Eren laughed and Levi was glad to hear it. He wasn't used to the boy sounding all sad, although Levi understood well what he was going through. Parental separations were awful. "I think I'll help make dinner."

"Good choice, Eren. Now get your ass up and let's get to work."

* * *

They were able to whip up some lasagna, talking about things while they cooked and while they ate. Levi noticed that Eren kept sneezing, commenting that he might get snot all over the food. Eren just rolled his eyes, followed by another sneeze and nose blowing. He had started coughing, too.

"Did you manage to catch a cold again?"

Eren shrugged, stuffing more pasta in his mouth. "Must be because of the rain. My body kinda feels heavy."

Levi gave him an apprehensive look. "I thought idiots couldn't get sick."

They started cleaning up and Levi made Eren wait while he washed the dishes. He was about to climb upstairs to his room when his phone rang in the living room. "There's still some Tylenol left from last time you got sick, inside my bedside drawer, go get some while I get that."

Turned out, it was just Hanji calling.

"What is it?" Levi asked, rearranging the pillows on his sofa.

" _How are things over there?"_

"It's fine," he told her. "We had dinner, made some lasagna. Made a lot, actually. I could probably make him bring back some for you."

" _Aw, that's so sweet of you, Levi!"_

"It's not like you don't steal food from my fridge whenever you can."

They had a small banter over how stealing food from Levi's fridge was legal because they were best friends, and then Levi remembered that he had asked Eren to take medicine.

Hanji clicked her tongue.  _"Make sure to take care of Eren properly, Levi. Oh, and did he tell you what I told him to relay for me?"_

"No, he said he didn't want to."

" _Wow, sneaky kiddo, just like me. Well, I might as well tell you: don't forget to use protection, grumpy cat. Remember, safe sex is great sex—."_

"Hanji, you are disgusting on so many levels, I'm just gonna forget we even talked tonight. Bye, good night, bless you." Levi hung up before Hanji could make him barf out his dinner.

When he walked back to the kitchen, Eren wasn't back yet. He went to his room and found the teen lying on his bed, cocooned inside Levi's covers.

"Eren, what the hell?"

He walked over to the boy and saw a bottle of water on his bedside table, along with the remaining Tylenol. He glanced over at Eren and shook his head, noticing how the brunet's face was red and he was ever so slightly shivering. Levi reached out and felt up his forehead, pulling back his hand when he felt how hot Eren was, literally. He opened his drawer and pulled out a thermometer, gently sticking it inside the teen's mouth. The reading was a whooping 38.7 degrees.

"Wow, so idiots do get sick. And they end up sleeping on other people's beds, too."

Eren stirred, opening one eye and looking up at Levi.

"Tylenol won't do shit now, brat. I'll get you some Ibuprofen."

"Thanks," Eren croaked, voice sounding a bit off already.

When Levi returned, with a new bottle of water and the medicine kit he kept in his bathroom, he found that Eren was back to sleeping. Levi had to shake his shoulder to get him to sit up so he could take the medicine, then he saw that Eren was still in his borrowed clothes which would be hell to sleep in.

"Fucking hell," Levi whispered, walking over to his closet to look for more comfortable clothes. He did find a pair of pajamas, which were a prank gift from Hanji. She knew it wouldn't fit him, saying, "For when you grow taller" when she handed over the gift. Who knew it could actually become useful.

Eren was watching him with half-closed eyes, breathing obviously heavy because of his stuffed nose. "Do I need to change?"

"Yes, you do, brat. Come on, I'll help." In the end, Eren decided that he could change himself, so he stood up. He wobbled on his feet a bit when he removed the borrowed jeans (Levi noticed that Eren was smiling sheepishly to himself, the retard) and slipped on the pajamas. He flopped back down on the bed and removed his top, replacing it with the matching pajama top.

"Comfortable now?" Levi asked, once Eren was settled again in the bed.

"Yeah, I am. I could move to the other room if you want me to, though."

Levi shook his head at him. "I still have to check up on you every now and then so let's not make it harder, stay here."

Levi was sitting on the side of the bed that Eren had graciously given him, the older male thinking that it was good thinking on his part when he decided to buy a queen size many years ago.

"Hey, Levi? How come you're good at taking care of people when you're supposed to be a lonely old man?"

"Are you going hysterical because of the fever?" Levi asked. Eren answered him with a large grin. "I'm not good at taking care of people, Eren. I'm just doing what common knowledge dictates."

Eren yawned, moving so he was lying on his side, facing Levi. "I know, but it's comforting being looked after by you."

The raven flicked him on the forehead lightly, then he smoothed the spot over with his thumb. "Don't get too used to it, brat."

Truthfully, Levi knew he could say the same for himself.

* * *

Eren started to drift off while he listened to Levi telling him about Hanji's tales of stupidity and shame. The teen's mouth was parted so he could breathe, every inhale and exhale sounding loud inside the relatively quiet room. Levi left the room to get a basin of water, soaking a towel in it and placing it on Eren's forehead. The brunet kept moving and tossing around, causing the towel to slide off every time.

Levi re-placed the towel on Eren, counting it as the seventh time already. He was starting to think about where he would be sleeping for the night, absentmindedly touching his hand to Eren's cheek to check for temperature. The brunet must have been half awake, because he took hold of Levi's wrist and kept the older male's hand on his cheek. He snuck out his feet from under the covers, subsequently pressing them to Levi's exposed calves.

For a moment, Levi wanted to roll his eyes, thinking that this was an attempt at cuddling. He soon realized though that Eren was pressing himself to Levi because of the contrast in body temperatures.

"What, too warm?" Levi quietly asked him when Eren moved closer, pressing his body to Levi. "Should I turn off the heater?"

"No, don't," Eren croaked. He moved his hand to Levi's wrists, probably because the older male's hands weren't cool enough for him anymore. "It's cold, too."

"Well fuck," Levi whispered, pulling away from Eren. The response he got was a pair of green eyes peeking at him through half-closed lids, his stare half judging and half pleading. "What? Don't look at me like that." He clicked his tongue, taking the towel from Eren's forehead and dumping it inside the basin. "I'll be back."

Levi left the room and headed for the bathroom, going through his nightly routine of washing his face and brushing his teeth. He went downstairs to check the plugs and then turned off all the lights behind him when he went back up to his room. Inside, he ignored the messy head of chocolate on his bed that slowly followed his movements, watching him as he went through his drawers for a change of clothes, sweatpants and a clean shirt.

"Scoot over a bit, hogger," he told Eren while he took a cooling patch from the kit. Levi slid inside the covers and stuck the patch on Eren's forehead. He lied down as close to the teen as he could allow himself and let Eren hold his hands.

"The shitty things you do, you shitty brat," Levi told him, blowing some hair off the teen's face.

"I think I'm your shitty brat now," Eren replied in his scratchy voice and Levi felt Eren's hands tighten around his.

Levi responded by returning the squeeze without saying anything else.

When he woke up in the morning, it was to the feeling of something tickling his nose and a warm body pressed up to him. He opened his eyes and he was met face first with the crown of Eren's head and he soon realized that  _pressed up_  was an understatement; Eren was basically wrapped around Levi, their legs tangled together and one of Eren's arms casually slung over Levi's waist. One of Eren's hands was under Levi's shirt, pressed to his bare stomach, and Levi didn't even want to think about how it got there. He lifted his head to look at the digital clock that told him it was already 11:15 in the morning. He flopped his head back down, almost hitting Eren, and blinked himself awake. He removed the cooling patch and untangled himself from the boy, reaching for the thermometer he left on the bedside table. He let out a sigh of relief when it read a 37.4 after pulling it out from Eren's mouth.

Eren groaned in his sleep, blinking up at Levi.

"Seems like you slept off the fever, kid," Levi told him. "Try not to be an idiot today and get some rest, will you?"

Eren looked like he couldn't care less about what Levi was saying but he still nodded his head, snaking an arm around Levi's middle. "Can we sleep in?"

"No, I'm gonna go make breakfast, feel free to join me eat."

The brunet looked so defeated when Levi removed his arm. He pulled the covers around him, as if he was afraid of the morning chill. "No breakfast in bed for the sick?"

"No, you fucking spoiled brat," Levi bit back, climbing out the bed. He stared down at Eren and watched as a blush crept up the boy's cheeks, his eyebrows drawing together slightly. Levi suppressed a sigh and leaned down to ruffle Eren's hair in an attempt to be affectionate. "Good morning, by the way. The offer still stands, feel free to join me for breakfast downstairs."

Eren was out of the bed before Levi was out of the room.

* * *

Breakfast was a simple set of honeyed ham and eggs that Eren complemented by serving two glasses of fresh orange juice, which was pretty much all his contribution. They ate and talked a bit, Levi asking him about how college preparations were going and Eren inquiring about Levi's work at the hospital. The older of the two couldn't help but notice to himself that conversations with Eren were still the same, in a way that they weren't awkward or shy (on Eren's part) at all. After that kissing fiasco and the awkward moment when Levi comforted Eren, the grey eyed man thought that their relationship would change a little (not that it didn't, he allowed) but he wasn't really complaining about their current setup.

"So," he started. "Are you the cuddling type or is that attitude reserved for when you're sick and have an excuse to smother me?"

To say that Eren choked on his juice would be downplaying it. Levi crossed off the "not shy" part in his head while Eren coughed behind his hand, his cheeks starting to color. "Don't die on me, brat."

"Did I… Did I do weird shit to you?" Eren asked, clearly horrified.

"You're overreacting, unless you actually are aware that you have some sort of weird sleeping habit, or fetish, whatever. But really, it was just some gooey cuddling that I should have expected from you."

" _Expected from me?"_  Eren echoed.

"You're all vanilla, Eren."

" _Excuse me?"_  A thick eyebrow rose, Eren's disbelieving voice only slightly masked by his still scratchy voice. "I'm not all that vanilla, Levi, believe me."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Right, sure, you're kinky." He cleared the table and started the dishes, only half listening to Eren's rant about how he wasn't vanilla. Levi was already drying off his hands when he felt Eren sneak up behind him, hands resting on the counters, tan arms guarding him from both sides. Levi turned and glanced up, at the lazy grin on Eren's face.

"Get off me, you fucking hormonal teenager."

"Give me a few months and I won't be a teenager anymore," Eren murmured, leaning down a bit closer to Levi.

"Yeah? Give me a few years and I'd be old enough to be your dad."

Eren chuckled, his breath fanning Levi's face. "I'm into daddy kink."

"You're trash," Levi replied, earning another chuckle from Eren.

"Told you I'm not as vanilla as you think I am."

Levi shook his head. "Wonder where I got the idea," he managed to say, before Eren decided that he was done talking and was now ready to invade some personal space. He barely let Levi finish his sentence, leaning down for a kiss with much more lip movement than last time.

Levi let his eyes close and responded to Eren's mouth on his, moving his lips to match Eren's pace. It was a soft, slow make out session that lasted for a good few minutes, neither of them seeming to be in any hurry to take it to any face eating action. He found out that Eren wasn't all that bad of a kisser when he didn't feel any saliva on the area surrounding his mouth after Eren broke away.

Cheeks flushed, pupils dilated, ever so slightly breathless, Eren grinned at him. "Wonder where you got the idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you guys kill me i really do have an explanation for this see my laptop's charger broke and i didn't have a spare so i could use my laptop for a while and i had all my files and documents here so i couldn't write shit and now that i got it back here's your update if anyone's still gonna read this?????? i'm levirens on tumblr btw


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED.

_"Wonder where you got the idea."_

_Goddamn motherfucking smug ass fuck shit brat._  Levi pushed away said brat who only swooped down to snuggle closer, his face in the crook of Levi's neck. "Eren," he warned the teen. "Go get some rest or something, stop smothering me."

"You sure? Don't you need help with anything?" Eren asked, speaking against Levi's skin.

"Today's laundry day and I can't really trust you with the washing machine just yet so it'd be better if you just take a nap." While saying this, Levi tried to pry off Eren who only chuckled in his ear, admittedly causing goose bumps to appear on his arms.

"Actually, I was talking about helping you with that thing that's been poking me for a while now."

Levi just had to roll his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest once he successfully pushed Eren off him. "You can keep the dream alive, kid," he told Eren. "An overly eager teen like you would have a hard time even getting this at half-mast."

The brunet raised his eyebrows, as if he was accepting Levi's statement as a challenge. "Now that is something I would like to disprove."

Levi thought that the totally inappropriate conversation was leading to nowhere remotely good (on his part), but he cracked a grin. "Not in your wettest dreams."

"Fine, fine. I'll be in my room, sleeping,  _dreaming_. Call me if you need me, I guess?" Eren said, giving Levi his much needed space.

"Basically, never," Levi replied, pushing away the hair that covered Eren's forehead, the action contrasting well with his words.

Eren smiled at him and stalked off to  _his_  room upstairs. Levi didn't move until he heard the click of the door closing behind Eren. Before he started on the house chores, he decided to give Hanji a ring, informing her that Eren was very much okay and that the fever had already gone down. They talked for a while until Levi had to hang up while Hanji babbled about gossip around work (although to Levi's credit, he did tell her that he didn't give a fuck about who fucked who).

Levi did the laundry and cleaned up the place a bit, taking a warm bath afterwards. He woke Eren up to have snacks with him and had the brunet take another tablet for his cold. They had a relatively peaceful afternoon together, and Eren even offered to take on dinner.

"Are you sure you won't collapse?" Levi asked, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "Can't have you fainting on me."

"Very funny, Levi. We both know I'm okay now, all thanks to you. Maybe you should have been a nurse instead of a pharmacist," Eren suggested, already poking around the fridge for ingredients. He declared that he was going to make a very creative dish of macaroni and cheese.

"Wow, tough work. Sorry, can't help you with that, I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready for my shift."

"I was wrong about the nurse thing!" Eren called out as Levi walked away. "How could you leave your patient slash boyfriend to fend for himself?"

Levi just gave him the finger, the word  _boyfriend_  bouncing around his head.

* * *

He was admittedly expecting this, ever since Eren kissed him and he kissed Eren a few weeks back. It came with the term that Eren had used, the term that Levi called the brunet when he had to reluctantly tell Hanji about their  _development_   _("Because you're my best friend and he's my nephew."_ ), the term that they had so easily agreed upon even without bothering to discuss it.

 _Boyfriend_. They were going out, although the only actual going out that they have actually done was going out for groceries, and there has never been any discussions about their relationship ever since it was established. Still, between the light kisses and sloppy make out sessions and some light petting here and there (mostly coming from Eren's part), Levi was more than convinced that they did in fact have a relationship that exceeded that of friends or roommates.

Were they lovers? Most probably, and so that was why Levi was expecting this kind of thing to eventually come from the brunet, a certain way of showing affection that was so common among teenagers yet so uniquely Eren. It was an adjustable and fairly simple rope bracelet with two solid black strands, no charms or anything that could get caught or hooked on anything. The bracelet fit Levi's wrist almost perfectly, not too tight so it wouldn't cut off his blood flow and not too loose so it wouldn't slide down his arm.

"Is it a matching set?"

Eren smiled sheepishly, almost shyly showing Levi the similar anklet that he wore on his right ankle.

"Of course," Levi said. "Thank you, Eren. Where'd you get the idea?"

"Well, I came by this cool shop on my way to the university last week, you know, for orientation," Eren paused, checking if Levi was following which the latter confirmed with a nod. "They had all sorts of band merchandise like shirts and bracelets and stuff like that, and then I saw these and I decided to buy them. Do you like yours?"

Levi knows that he will most likely never hear the end of it from his co-workers, but he doesn't tell Eren that. Instead, he says, "Yeah, it's pretty cool, actually. Who would have guessed that you had nice taste?"

"I was actually considering giving you the anklet, so you know, the people from the hospital wouldn't see, but I wasn't sure," Eren explained, playing with his own hair.

"This is fine. They'd find out anyway, even if it was around my dick. I imagine they'd be doing a full body check on me sometime soon," Levi told him, giving Eren's leg a reassuring pat. "Thanks, really."

"Okay, good. Glad you liked it. Can I get a kiss?" He was already leaning in, eyes half closed, so Levi's quirked eyebrow didn't really do much effect on him.

Eren had his lips pressed to Levi's the moment the older said, "Sure, why not."

* * *

There was another thing that Levi had expected to happen ever since Eren slept inside his bedroom the night the idiot got sick; it was going to happen again. And again.  _And again_. It became even more evident that it was indeed going to happen when Levi realized that Eren had been moving some of his stuff from Hanji's house to Levi's and that he was no longer just "sleeping over" but was, in fact, once again living with Levi.

And then came the day. A few days before Eren started college, Levi arrived home from work and entered his supposed-to-be empty room only to find that it wasn't so empty, with a certain brunet sleeping on his bed. He sighed and checked Eren's forehead, finding out that the teen wasn't sick at all.

"Eren," he called, gently nudging Eren's shoulder. "Brat, what're you doing in here?"

Said teenager only groaned and turned away from Levi, clutching the sheets closer to his body.

"Eren," Levi repeated, the same warning tone that he used only for Eren in his voice. That got the teen to roll over on his back.

"Can we sleep together?" Eren asked, one eye slightly opened to look at Levi in the darkness. "Uni is starting in a few days and I'm nervous. Also, let's conserve energy?"

 _Only an idiot would fall for that_ , Levi told himself. "Fine."  _Unbelievable_.

He changed into comfortable clothes and climbed into bed with Eren, who immediately wrapped his arms around Levi. The older male sighed but later allowed himself to enjoy the warmth that Eren Jaeger provided.

This setting went on until Eren didn't even have to make stupid ass excuses to sleep with Levi, and Levi didn't have to tell himself that he was only letting this happen because he did kind of believe these stupid ass excuses.

Eren started college and sometimes their schedule wouldn't match up so they wouldn't see each other in the afternoon when Levi was home on some days, or Levi would wake up alone on other days. Bedtime, though, was always the same for Levi, and Eren would always be there to share his bed.

And the same went for Sunday mornings; it never changed. One particular time, when Levi had to work on a Saturday night, he woke up the following morning to cold sheets, the other side of the bed empty. At first, he thought that maybe Eren had forgotten to tell him that he was going out, but when Levi stepped outside his room, the smell of food invaded his nostrils, inviting him to come down. He was met with a table already set with Eren's signature bacon and eggs and orange juice served on two glasses breakfast meal.

"You were so tired when you got home, you slept in your uniform," Eren told Levi, giving him a look.

"Yeah, I remember. Thanks for changing my clothes, I guess?" Levi said, sitting down on the chair opposite Eren. "And thank you for making breakfast."

"Sure, sure. We both benefit in it anyway. Both the changing part and the breakfast thing."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Please don't say you molested me in my sleep."

"My lips are sealed," Eren beamed, flashing him a brilliant set of white teeth before scarfing down the food.

* * *

"So, how's university so far?" Levi asked as he settled himself down on the couch, Eren sitting snuggly beside him, trying to decide which movie to play on Netflix. The rain was pouring down hard outside and they were both thankful that neither of them had to go out.

"Good, real good. I've met a few people I hang out with during my breaks, some I share classes with."

"Well, that's some good news. Broken any faces as of late?"

Eren laughed. "Nope, haven't seen Jean Kirstein in a while, so…" He clicked PLAY on some horror-mystery movie and they settled into relative silence, only breaking it to complain about the cold weather. Somehow, with all the shifting, they ended up lying on the couch, each using the opposite armrest as pillows so their legs were somehow entangled.

"Shit it's really cold," Levi said, just as the lead guy in the movie watched as a whole family of Italians died. Levi moved his foot and somehow, under the thick comforter, placed it on Eren's groin. The teen's surprised yelp was a dead giveaway of what exactly Levi's foot had settled itself on.

"Ah, sorry, didn't know that was there," he murmured, removing his foot from Eren's crotch.

"Nope, nothing to be sorry about," Eren told him. Levi looked at him and almost grinned when he saw the brunet's beet red face.

"What are you blushing about, Eren?" Levi asked. "It's not like—," Levi moved his foot again, placing it on Eren's groin once more, "This hasn't happened before, only with my hand instead of my foot, right?"

Really, he was just teasing the kid, finding it amusing how shy Eren could be at times then bold and fearless the next. Like how he was just blushing from just a moment ago and now he was looking at Levi with a straight face and Levi was feeling a bulge forming under his foot.

And now under his own pants.

What did he say about Eren having a hard time getting Levi at half-mast? Bullshit.

Levi watched Eren, experimentally moving his feet up and down the now prominent boner the teenager was sporting. At this, Eren looked away, as if he intended to continue watching the film. Levi had to hold back a sigh, opting to continue his business with his foot. Eren got steadily harder but he kept his eyes on the screen, his face still red and Levi would occasionally see him wetting his lips.

"You must be really horny right now, Levi," Eren finally said, still not making eye contact.

"Why'd you say that?"

"Because if you weren't, you wouldn't be doing this," he explained, grabbing the remote and shutting off the television. He looked at Levi, an eyebrow raised in question.

Levi got up into a proper sitting position and took hold of Eren's hand, guiding it to his crotch, letting the teen feel the undeniable hardness underneath Levi's pants. "Does that mean anything to you?"

"It means a lot actually," Eren said, grinning. He palmed Levi through his pants, attempting to open his fly after a few moments and was met with no resistance, much to his apparent delight. Usually, Levi would stop him there, before he could make any skin on skin contact, but that wasn't the case today.

The shock of Eren's chilled hand around his hard member prompted a groan from him, then Eren's hand was pumping him and he had to bite his lip, breathing heavily through his nose. Eren was watching him, green eyes so keenly bent on catching every facial expression Levi would make. Eren moved so he was on his knees, hovering over Levi, his face inches from Levi's groin.

Eren's cold lips kissing the shaft of his dick elicited a hiss from Levi that was cut short by a gasp when a warm sensation enclosed the head. Eren took his time, pulling away only to take Levi's cock deeper each time he went back in. What he couldn't cover with his mouth, he gripped with his hand.

Levi ran a hand through brown locks, encouraging Eren to keep bobbing his head up and down. Eren went down and took him in even deeper and moaned around his cock, making him grip the brunet's hair tighter. He was released with a  _pop!_ , the sight of Eren's lazy grin and glistening lips making him impossibly harder.

"Fuck, Eren," Levi groaned, reaching out to free Eren's dick from its confines.

"Yes, fuck Eren," the brunet replied, laughing at his own comeback until he felt the cold air hit his exposed length, just as his pants and underwear fell to the ground. "Shit."

Levi pushed him down into his original position, lying on the couch, but now with Levi on top of him. Then Levi realized that maybe Eren wanted it some other way. He hesitated. "Do you want to…?" Levi trailed off.

Eren laughed. "No, it's okay, you can do me."

Levi was taken aback for a while, but then he realized that this was Eren Jaeger and he most probably meant what he just said so Levi just shook his head, wondering why Eren's answer even surprised him. "Well, it isn't all that romantic when you put it that way." He reached over and pulled out a bottle of lube from the center table's drawer, cursing under his breath when he failed to retrieve any condoms.

When he looked back at Eren, the teen was already holding out a packet for him. "Make love to me?" When Levi didn't say anything, Eren added, "Is that romantic enough for you?"

And Levi actually smiled, even laughed a bit. "You're such an idiot." He leaned down and kissed Eren, their mouths naturally finding their way into a rhythm they're both very much familiar with. Using his free hand, Levi pumped Eren's swollen member and swallowed all of Eren's moans. He pulled his hand away to lube up a finger and gently pushed it into Eren's puckered hole, feeling limbs automatically fly to wrap around his neck.

Levi allowed Eren enough time to get used to one finger before he lubed up another, pushing it in slowly and watching Eren's face closely for any signs of intense pain. Eren's thick eyebrows were drawn together in a look of concentration, beads of sweat started to break out on his forehead, and his lower lip was captured between his teeth. Levi kissed his forehead and started to to do scissoring motions with his fingers, opening Eren up wider. By the time Levi entered a third finger, Eren was panting and letting out small moans.

Levi pulled his fingers out all at once and rolled the condom from on, putting a generous amount of lube on his hand to spread on his dick. He looked at Eren for confirmation, to see if he was ready, and the brunet nodded his head several times.

Gently and slowly, Levi pushed in, careful not to hurt Eren. He inched inside until he was all the way in, up to the hilt, stopping for a while to let Eren adjust to the feeling of being stretched and let himself catch a few breaths. He used these few moments to fully appreciate how good it felt inside Eren and he couldn't stop himself from pulling back and giving a slight push. Instead of a negative response, Eren moaned out.

Encouraged, Levi started to move, starting off with a slow pace that they could both keep up with. In one particular thrust, he pulled out until only the head was left inside Eren, and then slammed back in. Eren arched his back, his hand flying to chest, playing with his nipple.

"You found it—  _mmhmm_  fuck, Levi!" The hand that was playing with his nipple found purchase on Levi's shoulder as did the other hand. Levi was gripping Eren's hips and had picked up on his pace, now slamming into Eren in earnest.

A series of choice curse words and Levi's name mingled in it tumbled out from Eren's mouth with the occasional loud moans of pleasure. "Fuck, do it harder— god, fuck,  _yes_."

Levi took hold of Eren's cock and jerked it off in time with his thrusts, making Eren almost lose it.  _"Levi I'm so fucking close please don't stop."_

Levi quickly lifted Eren's shirt and made him bite the hem. True to his words, after a long drawn out moan barely muffled by the t-shirt, Eren came into Levi's hands, his cum dripping down onto his stomach. It took only a few more thrusts and Eren tightening around him for Levi to come undone as well.

Breathing heavily, Levi looked down at Eren. The teen was looking at him too, with pupils blown wide, lips plump and wet andpulled up into a contented smile, cheeks aflame, and stomach covered in his own cum, Levi couldn't help but feel awestruck at the sight of Eren.

"Fuck, you're beautiful."

Shock registered on Eren's face, then a smile so wide spread over his face, and then he mouthed a shy "Thank you" to Levi and Levi felt a painful tug at his heart and he didn't know why but he thought that he felt like he wanted to cry.

Fuck, he was so fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rated e for a reason y'all also summer vacation started so yay???? if u still read this???? im levirens on tumblr and ejacyeolate on twitter pls come and talk to me i liek friends


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